Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE:BLCO) Short Interest Update

Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE:BLCO) was the target of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 4,063,241 shares, a growth of 62.3% from the May 14th total of 2,503,101 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 397,227 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup set a $19.00 target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bausch + Lomb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $16.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.92.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

Shares of BLCO opened at $14.87 on Thursday. Bausch + Lomb has a fifty-two week low of $11.44 and a fifty-two week high of $18.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of -23.98, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.88 and its 200-day moving average is $16.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.02. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.60% and a negative net margin of 4.21%.The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.07) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenview Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 210.8% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,855 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter worth about $14,776,000. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 3,245,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,909,000 after purchasing an additional 724,194 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 175.3% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 861,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,976,000 after purchasing an additional 548,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 428.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 299,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,345,000 after purchasing an additional 242,993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

About Bausch + Lomb

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.