Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.58.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BLCO shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Bausch + Lomb from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Trading of Bausch + Lomb

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLCO. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the second quarter valued at $173,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $289,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth about $289,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at about $302,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at approximately $309,000. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

Shares of BLCO opened at $17.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.90, 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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.57.

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

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.