Q1 EPS Estimates for Verona Pharma Lifted by HC Wainwright

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) – Equities researchers at HC Wainwright lifted their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Verona Pharma in a report released on Tuesday, January 21st. HC Wainwright analyst R. Selvaraju now anticipates that the company will post earnings of ($0.24) per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of ($0.40). HC Wainwright currently has a “Buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Verona Pharma’s current full-year earnings is ($1.95) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Verona Pharma’s Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.08) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.08 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.16 EPS and FY2025 earnings at ($0.08) EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on VRNA. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Capital raised shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 2.2 %

VRNA opened at $54.67 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $55.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.65.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 74.2% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,092,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,722,000 after buying an additional 1,316,998 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,966,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 54.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,740,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,085,000 after acquiring an additional 612,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth approximately $16,483,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total value of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares in the company, valued at $13,090,252. This represents a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 46,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $205,369.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,298,896 shares in the company, valued at $67,009,164.48. The trade was a 0.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,230,392 shares of company stock worth $5,964,338. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Company Profile

Verona Pharma plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with unmet medical needs. The company's product candidate is ensifentrine, an inhaled and dual inhibitor of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and PDE4 enzymes that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.