William Blair Issues Pessimistic Outlook for CRL Earnings

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) – Stock analysts at William Blair lowered their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a report issued on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair analyst M. Smock now expects that the medical research company will earn $2.46 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.57. The consensus estimate for Charles River Laboratories International’s current full-year earnings is $10.20 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Charles River Laboratories International’s Q1 2025 earnings at $2.41 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.85 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $10.59 EPS.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical research company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $975.99 million. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 14.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.72 EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $203.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. CLSA raised shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.54.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

NYSE:CRL opened at $215.84 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $194.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.91. The firm has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.48. Charles River Laboratories International has a one year low of $168.24 and a one year high of $275.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,467 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,638,290,000 after acquiring an additional 66,161 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.7% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,908,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $394,359,000 after purchasing an additional 31,359 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 40.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,760,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $346,821,000 after purchasing an additional 509,163 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,513,138 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $409,985,000 after purchasing an additional 45,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP grew its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 1,182,268 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $320,336,000 after buying an additional 26,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles River Laboratories International

In other news, Director Richard F. Wallman sold 6,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.12, for a total value of $1,430,930.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,386 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,862.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Charles River Laboratories International

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing).