Journey Medical Co. (NASDAQ:DERM) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Journey Medical Co. (NASDAQ:DERM) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 150,100 shares, a growth of 28.0% from the March 15th total of 117,300 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 67,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DERM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Journey Medical in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $10.50 price target on Journey Medical in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $9.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Claude Maraoui sold 14,905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $74,674.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,052,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,282,614.18. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 105,831 shares of company stock worth $536,622 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Journey Medical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DERM. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Journey Medical by 13.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 108,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 12,882 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Journey Medical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp now owns 167,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 9,005 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Journey Medical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $174,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Journey Medical by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Journey Medical in the fourth quarter valued at $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Journey Medical Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DERM traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $6.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 79,880. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.01 million, a P/E ratio of -6.59 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.28. Journey Medical has a 1-year low of $3.20 and a 1-year high of $7.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Journey Medical (NASDAQ:DERM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.30. Journey Medical had a negative net margin of 31.74% and a negative return on equity of 132.10%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.21 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Journey Medical will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Journey Medical

Journey Medical Corporation focuses on the development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of dermatological conditions in the United States. The company's marketed products include Qbrexza, a medicated cloth towelette for the treatment of primary axillary hyperhidrosis; Accutane, an oral isotretinoin drug to treat severe recalcitrant nodular acne; and Amzeeq, a topical formulation of minocycline for the treatment of inflammatory lesions of non-nodular moderate to severe acne vulgaris.