Short Interest in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Rises By 11.7%

Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the November 15th total of 967,300 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 648,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Bausch + Lomb

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLCO. State Street Corp raised its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 14.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 24,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 14,052.2% in 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. Renaissance Capital LLC lifted its position in Bausch + Lomb by 20.0% during the third quarter. Renaissance Capital LLC now owns 43,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 7,274 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 2nd quarter valued at $173,000. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

BLCO opened at $18.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.67, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.55. Bausch + Lomb has a 12-month low of $13.16 and a 12-month high of $21.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 7.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.17%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLCO. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup downgraded Bausch + Lomb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.58.

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.