Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Stock Rating Cut to “Neutral” at HC Wainwright

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) was downgraded by research analysts at HC Wainwright from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Briefing.com reports. They presently have a $22.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright‘s price target points to a potential upside of 10.06% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BLCO. Citigroup raised their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore set a $17.00 price target on Bausch + Lomb in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, July 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised Bausch + Lomb to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

BLCO opened at $19.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.69. Bausch + Lomb has a 52-week low of $14.44 and a 52-week high of $21.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.52.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 2.05% and a positive return on equity of 5.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Bausch + Lomb

In related news, Director Eschenbach Andrew C. Von sold 6,059 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $100,458.22. Following the sale, the director directly owned 63,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,056,693.14. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Frederick Munsch sold 52,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.78, for a total transaction of $887,662.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,044.18. The trade was a 53.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 71,459 shares of company stock worth $1,194,370 over the last three months. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Beach Point Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,882,000. Whitebox Advisors LLC grew its position in Bausch + Lomb by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,101,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,519,000 after acquiring an additional 150,641 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the second quarter worth $1,479,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 100.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 139,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 69,633 shares during the period. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter worth $670,000. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bausch + Lomb Company Profile

Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE: BLCO) is a global eye-health company that develops, manufactures and markets products for vision care, ophthalmic pharmaceuticals and eye surgery. The company serves consumers, eye-care professionals, hospitals and surgical centers through a portfolio spanning contact lenses, contact-lens care products, prescription medicines, over-the-counter eye-care products and surgical equipment.

Its vision-care portfolio includes the Biotrue and INFUSE contact-lens brands, as well as solutions and other products used to clean and maintain contact lenses.