UPDATE: Aegis Capital Reiterates on Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Following 3Q 2013 Earnings Report

In a report published Wednesday, Aegis Capital analyst Raghuram Selvaraju reiterated a Hold rating on

, but lowered the price target from $3.00 to $2.00. In the report, Aegis Capital Corp. noted, “Last week, Navidea Biopharmaceuticals reported 3Q 2013 earnings. The firm reported a net loss of $0.09 per share, in-line with our projection. However, net Lymphoseek sales were roughly $144k in the quarter, which pale in comparison to our original estimate of $2.5mm. While we continue to view Lymphoseek as an important addition to the oncology diagnostic armamentarium, and believe that it has advantages over existing modalities for sentinel lymph node mapping, we remain lukewarm on the product's near- and mid-term commercial prospects primarily because of pricing issues and would look for evidence of accelerating revenues before becoming more bullish on Navidea. Thus far, despite some initial signs of progress, such as the successful receipt of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement pass-through C-code, it appears that Navidea and its U.S. partner Cardinal Health (CAH/NYSE, Not Rated) are having a tough time building sales momentum. Thus, we maintain our Hold rating and lower our 12-month target price from $3.00 to $2.00 per share.” Navidea Biopharmaceuticals closed on Tuesday at $1.56.