Evercore Cuts Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Price Target to $15.00

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Evercore from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has an “in-line” rating on the stock. Evercore’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.41% from the company’s current price.

BLCO has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bausch + Lomb from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bausch + Lomb currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.27.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

Shares of BLCO stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $13.71. The stock had a trading volume of 704,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,706. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of -18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.47. Bausch + Lomb has a twelve month low of $13.16 and a twelve month high of $21.95.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 6.27% and a positive return on equity of 3.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. Bausch + Lomb’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Bausch + Lomb

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eminence Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 11.7% during the third quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 5,994,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,612,000 after acquiring an additional 626,431 shares during the period. Freshford Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Freshford Capital Management LLC now owns 1,754,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,925,000 after purchasing an additional 403,062 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 39.1% in the third quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,351,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,913,000 after buying an additional 380,000 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,938,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,066,000 after buying an additional 343,772 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 11.5% during the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,220,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,580,000 after buying an additional 333,000 shares in the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.