Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 6.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AMPH opened at $19.53 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $861.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.96. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $16.65 and a 52 week high of $31.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a current ratio of 3.85.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.28). Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 15.12%. The business had revenue of $171.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.46 million. On average, research analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,237,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,134,000 after purchasing an additional 363,216 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 382.9% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 392,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,455,000 after purchasing an additional 311,071 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,560,000. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 392,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,471,000 after buying an additional 268,612 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 367.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 312,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,322,000 after buying an additional 245,440 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Founded in 2004, Amphastar focuses on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of injectable and inhalation products. The company’s manufacturing facilities in California produce both generic and proprietary formulations designed to address urgent and chronic medical conditions.

Amphastar’s portfolio includes a range of injectable generics such as epinephrine, naloxone and lidocaine, serving hospital, emergency medical and retail pharmacy channels.