Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Lifted to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $18.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $16.00.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on BLCO. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $19.45.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Down 0.6 %

BLCO stock opened at $14.81 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.43, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.70. Bausch + Lomb has a one year low of $13.16 and a one year high of $21.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.55.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 7.81% and a positive return on equity of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter worth $466,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,938,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,066,000 after buying an additional 343,772 shares in the last quarter. Black Swift Group LLC acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter worth $170,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter worth $5,091,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter worth $2,752,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.