HC Wainwright Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO)

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $21.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.74% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BLCO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $16.00 price objective on Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore set a $17.00 target price on Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bausch + Lomb from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.75.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE BLCO opened at $17.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.42. Bausch + Lomb has a 1 year low of $13.77 and a 1 year high of $18.92.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 3.21% and a positive return on equity of 4.14%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bausch + Lomb

In other Bausch + Lomb news, Director Eschenbach Andrew C. Von sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total value of $206,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 69,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,151,568. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Frederick Munsch sold 52,900 shares of Bausch + Lomb stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.78, for a total transaction of $887,662.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,044.18. This trade represents a 53.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 71,459 shares of company stock valued at $1,194,370 in the last quarter. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bausch + Lomb

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whitebox Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,101,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,519,000 after acquiring an additional 150,641 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 100.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the 4th quarter valued at $787,000. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its position in Bausch + Lomb by 54.9% in the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 64,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 22,876 shares during the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.