Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Upgraded by UBS Group to Strong-Buy Rating

UBS Group upgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

BLCO has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore set a $17.00 price target on Bausch + Lomb in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bausch + Lomb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Bausch + Lomb from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $16.00 target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bausch + Lomb currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.23.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLCO opened at $16.61 on Tuesday. Bausch + Lomb has a 1 year low of $13.09 and a 1 year high of $18.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.43.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.15. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.60% and a negative net margin of 4.21%.The firm had revenue of $981.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 22,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Bausch + Lomb by 104.1% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Bausch + Lomb by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 5,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

About Bausch + Lomb

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.