Aurora Cannabis Forges Higher Despite Bear Note, C-Suite News

ACB has shed 60% in 2019

Weed specialist Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE:ACB) is up 1.5% this morning at $2.04, despite receiving a downgrade to "hold" from "buy" out of Jefferies yesterday afternoon. Interestingly enough, the downgrade came on the heels of news the company's Chief Corporate Officer (CCO) Cam Battley has resigned, and yesterday's announcement it has created steps to reduce debt and boost liquidity. Yesterday the shares plunged 10.7% on the news, though now look to be in recovery mode. Long term, ACB has struggled as well, with a stiff ceiling at the 30-day moving average adding pressure to its now 60% year-to-date deficit.

Meanwhile, short interest on Aurora Cannabis has grown 5% during the past two reporting periods, and now accounts for a hefty 17.1% of the stock's total available float. At the weed name's average pace of daily trading, it would take short sellers over seven days to buy back their bearish bets.

Circling back to analyst sentiment, coming into today, six of the 11 covering firms sport a "buy" or "strong buy" rating. And what's more, the stock's average 12-month price target of $3.74 comes in roughly 83% above current trading levels.