5 Penny Stocks to Buy in March

4. Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 12

Share Price (as of March 3): $0.95

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) is a biopharmaceutical firm based in California, United States. The firm was given a ‘Buy’ rating by Jefferies analyst Chris Howerton on March 2, and a price target of $5, up from $1. The analyst sees Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) standing out from its competitors given its approved irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, or IBS-C, product called Ibsrela, which will launch in April. The analyst estimates peak sales for the Ibsrela product around $300 million, and sees its commercial opportunity validated by Linzess and Trulance, two competitor products that have seen $1 billion and $100 million in 2021 sales respectively.

Investors were eager on Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) shares at the close of Q4 2021, with 12 hedge funds holding stakes in the company, as compared to 10 hedge funds in the Q3 2021. With a stake comprising of 2.75 million shares worth more than $3 million, Solas Capital Management was the top shareholder in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) at the close of the fourth quarter.

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) posted earnings per share of -$0.31 in Q4, beating estimates by $0.03. Revenue of $1.03 million was also above estimates by $153,000.