Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,260,000 shares, an increase of 9.9% from the November 15th total of 9,340,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,910,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bausch Health Companies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Bausch Health Companies by 0.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 374,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC raised its stake in Bausch Health Companies by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 11,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 3,643 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in Bausch Health Companies by 13.0% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 32,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 3,734 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Bausch Health Companies by 6.9% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 60,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 3,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Bausch Health Companies by 2.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 246,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 4,944 shares during the period. 78.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BHC shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Bausch Health Companies to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised Bausch Health Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bausch Health Companies from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.75.

Bausch Health Companies Stock Performance

Shares of BHC stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $7.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 876,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,784,071. Bausch Health Companies has a 52 week low of $3.96 and a 52 week high of $11.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.24. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of -16.27 and a beta of 0.69.

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. Bausch Health Companies had a negative return on equity of 755.86% and a negative net margin of 1.88%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bausch Health Companies will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

About Bausch Health Companies

Bausch Health Companies Inc operates as a diversified specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company in the United States and internationally. It develops, manufactures, and markets a range of products primarily in gastroenterology, hepatology, neurology, dermatology, international pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter (OTC) products, aesthetic medical devices, and eye health.