Aphria (NASDAQ:APHA) Shares Down 5.1%

Aphria Inc. (NASDAQ:APHA) fell 5.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $17.22 and last traded at $17.27. 465,229 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 24,610,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.19.

A number of research firms recently commented on APHA. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Aphria from $26.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 16th. Canaccord Genuity raised Aphria from a “hold” rating to a “speculative buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $11.00 to $17.50 in a research note on Friday, January 15th. CIBC increased their price target on Aphria from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 22nd. Alliance Global Partners increased their price target on Aphria from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Aphria from $15.50 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.53.

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.44 and a beta of 2.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.36.

Aphria (NASDAQ:APHA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 13th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $160.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $153.75 million. Aphria had a negative return on equity of 2.30% and a negative net margin of 36.10%. Aphria’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aphria Inc. will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson Midwest Financial LLC bought a new position in Aphria during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aphria in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Berman Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aphria in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aphria by 650.7% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 5,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 4,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aphria in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.30% of the company’s stock.

Aphria Company Profile (NASDAQ:APHA)

Aphria Inc cultivates, processes, produces, markets, distributes, and sells medical cannabis in Canada and internationally. The company offers pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis, and cannabis-derived extracts and derivative cannabis products under the Solei, RIFF, Good Supply, Aphria, P'tite Pof, and Broken Coast brands.

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