Analysts Set Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Price Target at $21.00

Shares of Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.58.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLCO. Evercore ISI upgraded Bausch + Lomb from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup lowered shares of Bausch + Lomb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 24,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 14,052.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 3,232 shares during the period. Renaissance Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 20.0% during the third quarter. Renaissance Capital LLC now owns 43,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 7,274 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the second quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

Bausch + Lomb stock opened at $18.85 on Wednesday. Bausch + Lomb has a 1-year low of $13.16 and a 1-year 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of -17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.58.

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

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.