UPDATE: Ascendiant Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on Alliqua with Buy Rating, $9 PT as Turnaround Story Warrants Fresh Look

In a report published Wednesday, Ascendiant Capital Markets analyst Keay Nakae initiated coverage on

with a Buy rating and $9.00 price target. In the report, Ascendiant Capital Markets noted, “We are initiating coverage of ALQA with a BUY rating and 12-month price target of $9.00. We believe that Alliqua is an intriguing microcap story that warrants a fresh look by investors. This Company has been around for 17 years, most of which was easily forgettable. The Company, which was originally known Zeta Corporation, has subsequently changed its name a number of times as its focus has bounced around from trying to develop an artificial liver to developing new ways to deliver pain medications. These previous initiatives were largely unsuccessful. Further, regardless of what it was focused on, the Company was chronically undercapitalized. For these reasons, coupled with the fact that its stock was relegated to trading on the OTC Bulletin Board, made the stock uninvestable. However, around the end of 2012, a new leadership team, with extensive healthcare industry experience, took over the Company...The new leadership team articulated and began to implement a new strategic plan. Their goal is to position Alliqua as a successful competitor in the advanced wound care market who will be viewed by healthcare practitioners as a premier provider of differentiated product solutions that meet the challenges associated with the management of acute and chronic wounds.” Alliqua closed on Tuesday at $6.81.