UBS Group Begins Coverage on STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA)

Stock analysts at UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating and a $20.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 12.85% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on STAA. Wall Street Zen raised shares of STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $18.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on STAAR Surgical from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.94.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STAA opened at $22.95 on Tuesday. STAAR Surgical has a twelve month low of $15.59 and a twelve month high of $35.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.66 and its 200 day moving average is $23.85. The company has a current ratio of 5.12, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -53.37 and a beta of 1.23.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $93.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.72 million. STAAR Surgical had a negative net margin of 7.24% and a positive return on equity of 3.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 119.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.10) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that STAAR Surgical will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,729,000. Broadwood Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 15,019,491 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $346,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 105.3% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 2,472,390 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,019 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 112.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,076,743 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $47,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in STAAR Surgical in the 3rd quarter worth about $17,689,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR Surgical Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells implantable lenses for the eye, and companion delivery systems to deliver the lenses into the eye. The company provides implantable Collamer lens product family (ICLs) to treat visual disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. It markets its products to health care providers, including ophthalmic surgeons, vision and surgical centers, hospitals, government facilities, and distributors, as well as products are primarily used by ophthalmologists.