Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Short Interest Up 11.7% in November

Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, an increase of 11.7% from the November 15th total of 967,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 648,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

Shares of BLCO stock opened at $18.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.87 and a 200-day moving average of $17.52. The company has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Bausch + Lomb has a 52 week low of $13.16 and a 52 week high of $21.69.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLCO. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth approximately $14,122,000. Barclays PLC acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth $5,797,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at $289,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at $555,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter valued at about $309,000. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bausch + Lomb currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.58.

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.