Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $209.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRL. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. CLSA started coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $250.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $191.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

Charles River Laboratories International Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CRL opened at $184.00 on Wednesday. Charles River Laboratories International has a twelve month low of $161.65 and a twelve month high of $275.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $195.12 and a 200-day moving average of $210.25.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.41. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.96% and a net margin of 10.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 219.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 281 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the third quarter valued at about $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

About Charles River Laboratories International

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing).