Zacks Research Upgrades STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) to “Strong-Buy”

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

STAA has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. William Blair set a $33.00 target price on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Veritas Investment Research set a $31.00 price target on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.45.

STAAR Surgical Trading Up 2.0%

STAA stock opened at $22.32 on Monday. STAAR Surgical has a 1-year low of $15.59 and a 1-year high of $35.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 318.90 and a beta of 1.17.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. STAAR Surgical had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 1.13%. The business had revenue of $93.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.34) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 111.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STAAR Surgical declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 24th that permits the company to buy back $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STAA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in STAAR Surgical by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,669 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the 1st quarter valued at about $77,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $209,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $235,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 2,867.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,008 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 10,637 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.