Short Interest in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Decreases By 13.6%

Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 967,300 shares, a drop of 13.6% from the October 31st total of 1,120,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 639,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Capital LLC lifted its position in Bausch + Lomb by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Capital LLC now owns 36,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 13,210 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 14,052.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,232 shares in the last quarter. Fore Capital LLC increased its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 90.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fore Capital LLC now owns 42,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 53.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 67,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 23,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 25.0% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 390,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,663,000 after buying an additional 78,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BLCO opened at $19.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.46. Bausch + Lomb has a 52 week low of $13.16 and a 52 week high of $21.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.79 and its 200 day moving average is $17.19.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last released its quarterly 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. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 7.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.17%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLCO shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.91.

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.