Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Price Target Raised to $19.00 at Evercore ISI

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Evercore ISI from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “in-line” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential downside of 0.11% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BLCO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $15.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Monday, September 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.45.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLCO traded down $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.02. The company had a trading volume of 172,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 557,961. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.65. Bausch + Lomb has a 12 month low of $13.16 and a 12 month high of $21.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.46.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.36% and a negative net margin of 10.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brent L. Saunders purchased 32,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $505,035.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 595,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,320,346.54. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLCO. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 14,052.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 3,232 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 2nd quarter valued at $173,000. Fore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 1st quarter valued at $384,000. Renaissance Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Capital LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 2nd quarter valued at $580,000. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.