Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Upgraded by CLSA to Hold Rating

CLSA upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from an underperform rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $205.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on CRL. Barclays reduced their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “sell” rating and a $151.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.93.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE CRL traded up $5.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $215.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 625,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,989. Charles River Laboratories International has a fifty-two week low of $166.87 and a fifty-two week high of $275.00. The company has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.61.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical research company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.16. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 14.96%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $975.99 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.72 EPS. Charles River Laboratories International’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Charles River Laboratories International

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 1,836 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 3.0% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 10,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 5.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,272 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,610,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Charles River Laboratories International by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

Charles River Laboratories International Company Profile

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing).