Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Short Interest Up 52.5% in February

Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, a growth of 52.5% from the February 13th total of 1,220,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 631,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLCO. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the fourth quarter worth $181,000. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the fourth quarter worth $181,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the 4th quarter valued at $188,000. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered Bausch + Lomb from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

Shares of BLCO stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.34. 278,286 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 580,306. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.15. Bausch + Lomb has a fifty-two week low of $13.16 and a fifty-two week high of $21.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.35% and a negative net margin of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.