Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

AMPH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $22.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, May 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMPH. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 82.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 53,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 24,167 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 43.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 60,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 18,133 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $1,865,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,885,000 after acquiring an additional 27,828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $18.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $831.98 million, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.93. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.65 and a 12-month high of $31.26. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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). The company had revenue of $171.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.46 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 15.12%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.