Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a growth 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 presently 1.7 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

NYSE BLCO opened at $18.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.43. Bausch + Lomb has a fifty-two week low of $13.16 and a fifty-two week high of $21.69.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BLCO shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Bausch + Lomb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLCO. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $38,974,000 after purchasing an additional 85,987 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth about $526,000. Point72 Europe London LLP increased its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 28.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 653,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,489,000 after buying an additional 146,583 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the second quarter valued at approximately $580,000. Finally, Clearline Capital LP lifted its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 136.8% in the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 712,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,339,000 after acquiring an additional 411,404 shares during the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.