STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Veritas Investment Research set a $31.00 target price on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group set a $34.00 price target on STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded STAAR Surgical from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, STAAR Surgical presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

STAAR Surgical Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ STAA opened at $24.55 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -2,455,000.00 and a beta of 1.22. STAAR Surgical has a 12 month low of $15.59 and a 12 month high of $35.87.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. STAAR Surgical had a net margin of 0.16% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $83.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

STAAR Surgical declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 24th that allows the company to buy back $50 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of STAA. Two Seas Capital LP lifted its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 1,304,957 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,505,000 after purchasing an additional 240,568 shares during the period. American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in STAAR Surgical during the second quarter valued at approximately $24,291,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 39.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 820,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $15,348,000 after buying an additional 230,582 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in STAAR Surgical during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,578,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in STAAR Surgical by 257.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 135,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,528,000 after buying an additional 97,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

STAAR Surgical Company Profile

STAAR Surgical is a medical device company focused on ophthalmic surgery and vision correction. The company develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses and related products designed to reduce or eliminate dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

Its principal product line is the EVO Visian Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL), a lens implanted inside the eye to correct myopia, with or without astigmatism. Unlike procedures that remove corneal tissue, ICL surgery preserves the eye’s natural lens and is designed to be removable.