Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) was downgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $22.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $24.00. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.15% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BLCO. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Bausch + Lomb from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.58.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

BLCO stock opened at $18.62 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.48. The company has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.73, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.43. Bausch + Lomb has a twelve month low of $13.16 and a twelve month high of $21.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 7.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.17%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. Bausch + Lomb’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 4.4% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,020,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,974,000 after buying an additional 85,987 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 3rd quarter worth $526,000. Point72 Europe London LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 28.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 653,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,489,000 after purchasing an additional 146,583 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the second quarter valued at $580,000. Finally, Clearline Capital LP increased its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 136.8% in the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 712,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,339,000 after purchasing an additional 411,404 shares during the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is currently 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.