Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) to Buyback $0.00 in Outstanding Stock

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, August 21st, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Arbutus Biopharma Trading Up 9.2%

NASDAQ ABUS traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5.21. The company had a trading volume of 18,059,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,322,421. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 0.64. Arbutus Biopharma has a twelve month low of $3.49 and a twelve month high of $5.45.

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.01). Arbutus Biopharma had a return on equity of 90.98% and a net margin of 84.22%.The company had revenue of $1.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.70 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABUS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Arbutus Biopharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Arbutus Biopharma from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.00.

Arbutus Biopharma Company Profile

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and advancing a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The company’s pipeline features both direct-acting antivirals and host-targeting therapies designed to reduce viral load and restore immune function. Lead programs include an RNA interference (RNAi) candidate aimed at silencing viral gene expression and next-generation capsid assembly modulators that seek to inhibit viral replication at its core.

In addition to its antiviral portfolio, Arbutus leverages proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology to optimize the distribution and cellular uptake of nucleic acid therapeutics.