Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Given New $18.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) had its price target reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on BLCO. Barclays boosted their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore cut their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $16.50 and set an in-line rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $19.50.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

Bausch + Lomb stock opened at $14.64 on Monday. Bausch + Lomb has a 52 week low of $13.62 and a 52 week high of $21.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.78, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.36.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.07. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.70% and a negative net margin of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 3.0% in 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 last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 42,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 263,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,470,000 after acquiring an additional 6,017 shares during the last quarter. Black Swift Group LLC bought a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 114,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 11,321 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

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.