Spero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Spero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 737,720 shares, a growth of 21.9% from the March 31st total of 605,311 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 531,221 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Spero Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:SPRO traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $2.51. 399,454 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 350,877. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.41. Spero Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.57 and a fifty-two week high of $3.22. The company has a market capitalization of $145.04 million, a PE ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SPRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $41.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.00 million. Spero Therapeutics had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 22.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Spero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Spero Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Esther Rajavelu sold 87,917 shares of Spero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.36, for a total transaction of $207,484.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,012,091 shares in the company, valued at $2,388,534.76. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GSK plc acquired a new position in Spero Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $21,414,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spero Therapeutics by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,989,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 39,474 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Spero Therapeutics by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 210,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 19,200 shares during the period. Ionic Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spero Therapeutics by 39.2% during the third quarter. Ionic Capital Management LLC now owns 208,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 58,725 shares during the period. Finally, Intrepid Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spero Therapeutics by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Intrepid Family Office LLC now owns 165,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares during the period. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Spero Therapeutics

Spero Therapeutics is a clinical?stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies to address multidrug?resistant bacterial infections. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company aims to advance a pipeline of oral and intravenous antibiotic candidates designed to treat serious infectious diseases that pose significant public health challenges.

The company’s lead candidate, tebipenem HBr, is an oral carbapenem antibiotic being developed for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections caused by resistant Gram?negative pathogens.