Surrozen, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRZN) Stock Short Interest Jumps 51.9%

Surrozen, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRZN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,195,505 shares, a growth of 51.9% from the August 31st total of 1,445,491 shares. Approximately 27.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 173,121 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 12.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Surrozen in a research note on Friday, September 25th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Surrozen in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Surrozen in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Surrozen from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

Surrozen Trading Down 6.8%

SRZN opened at $30.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.61 and a 200 day moving average of $25.02. Surrozen has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $37.83. The firm has a market cap of $348.30 million, a P/E ratio of -0.74 and a beta of 0.46.

Surrozen (NASDAQ:SRZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.29) by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $5.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.47 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Surrozen will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Tcg Crossover Gp Ii, Llc sold 325,000 shares of Surrozen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.25, for a total transaction of $6,906,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 574,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,198,498.75. The trade was a 36.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 31.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Surrozen

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spruce Street Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Surrozen in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,764,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Surrozen during the first quarter worth about $6,682,000. Empery Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Surrozen during the fourth quarter worth about $2,350,000. 5AM Venture Management LLC boosted its position in Surrozen by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. 5AM Venture Management LLC now owns 387,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,758,000 after buying an additional 77,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 683 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Surrozen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $949,000. 66.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Surrozen Company Profile

Surrozen, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing regenerative medicines designed to activate the Wnt signaling pathway. Wnt signaling plays an important role in tissue development, repair and regeneration, and Surrozen’s approach is intended to stimulate the pathway selectively in specific tissues while limiting unwanted effects elsewhere in the body.

The company’s product candidates are based on engineered antibody therapeutics and its proprietary SWEETS platform. Surrozen has focused its research on potential treatments for diseases affecting the liver, gastrointestinal system and eyes, where impaired tissue repair or abnormal signaling may contribute to disease progression.