Bausch + Lomb’s (BLCO) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BLCO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $15.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.59.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

Shares of BLCO stock opened at $15.55 on Monday. Bausch + Lomb has a fifty-two week low of $13.16 and a fifty-two week high of $17.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.59.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.36% and a negative net margin of 10.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Bausch + Lomb news, CEO Brent L. Saunders bought 32,250 shares of Bausch + Lomb stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $505,035.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 595,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,320,346.54. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the fourth quarter worth about $1,706,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 75.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 48,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 20,803 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 114,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 11,321 shares during the last quarter. Freshford Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bausch + Lomb by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Freshford Capital Management LLC now owns 1,754,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,925,000 after purchasing an additional 403,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Bausch + Lomb by 14,052.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,232 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Bausch + Lomb Company Profile

Bausch + Lomb Corporation operates as an eye health company in the United States, Puerto Rico, China, France, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Poland, South Korea, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Vision Care, Pharmaceuticals, and Surgical. The Vision Care segment provides contact lens that covers the spectrum of wearing modalities, including daily disposable and frequently replaced contact lenses; and contact lens care products comprising over-the-counter eye drops, eye vitamins, and mineral supplements that address various conditions, such as eye allergies, conjunctivitis, dry eye, and redness relief.