Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Downgraded by Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $175.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $215.00.

CRL has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $228.00 to $203.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com raised Charles River Laboratories International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $191.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus reissued a hold rating on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $220.25.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE CRL opened at $189.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.09. The company has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12-month low of $161.65 and a 12-month high of $275.00.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 14.96%. On average, research analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Laboratories International declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRL. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 65.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 4,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 220 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 80,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,040,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 133.0% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 6,595 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles River Laboratories International Company Profile

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).