Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Given “Hold” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.83.

Bausch + Lomb Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:BLCO opened at $15.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.42 and a 200-day moving average of $18.13. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of -15.16, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.46. Bausch + Lomb has a one year low of $13.16 and a one year high of $21.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 7.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC purchased a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at about $5,797,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at about $526,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,020,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,974,000 after buying an additional 85,987 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $957,000. Finally, King Street Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,122,000. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bausch + Lomb Company Profile

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.