Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Rating Lowered to Inline at Evercore ISI

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $190.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $225.00. Evercore ISI’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 1.70% from the stock’s previous close.

CRL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Charles River Laboratories International from $191.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup downgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Baird R W lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles River Laboratories International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.33.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $186.83 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12-month low of $161.65 and a 12-month high of $275.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.36.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.96% and a net margin of 10.83%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,467 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,638,290,000 after purchasing an additional 66,161 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 1.7% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,908,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $394,359,000 after buying an additional 31,359 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.1% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,513,138 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $409,985,000 after acquiring an additional 45,079 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,251,618 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,559,000 after acquiring an additional 132,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP grew its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 1,182,268 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $320,336,000 after acquiring an additional 26,892 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).