Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN) to Strong-Buy

Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on SLN. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.50.

Silence Therapeutics Stock Performance

SLN opened at $6.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $301.33 million, a P/E ratio of -3.41 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.46 and a 200-day moving average of $5.85. Silence Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.97 and a 1-year high of $7.91.

Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $0.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 million. Silence Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 15,851.88% and a negative return on equity of 101.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Silence Therapeutics will post -1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Silence Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EHP Funds Inc. acquired a new position in Silence Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Silence Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $67,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Silence Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Silence Therapeutics by 65.9% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 5,421 shares during the period. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd lifted its holdings in Silence Therapeutics by 481.3% in the second quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 14,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 11,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.73% of the company’s stock.

Silence Therapeutics Company Profile

Silence Therapeutics plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) therapeutics. Leveraging its proprietary EnCore lipid nanoparticle delivery platform, the company aims to silence disease-causing genes in the liver and other tissues. Silence’s technology is designed to enhance targeted delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules, with the goal of achieving durable therapeutic effects and improved safety profiles compared with traditional drug modalities.

The company’s lead product candidates include SLN360, an siRNA therapeutic designed to reduce lipoprotein(a) levels for cardiovascular risk reduction, and SLN124, aimed at treating hereditary hemochromatosis and beta-thalassemia by modulating iron metabolism.