Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $15.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $24.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BLCO. Citigroup cut Bausch + Lomb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.18.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

BLCO opened at $14.18 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.23 and its 200 day moving average is $18.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.58, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.49. Bausch + Lomb has a 12-month low of $13.16 and a 12-month high of $21.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 6.62% and a positive return on equity of 3.35%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLCO. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 3,008,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,328,000 after buying an additional 796,400 shares in the last quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC grew its position in Bausch + Lomb by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,443,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,062,000 after acquiring an additional 199,856 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,218,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,996,000 after acquiring an additional 414,138 shares during the last quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,136,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,522,000 after purchasing an additional 404,256 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,122,000. 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.