Yakira Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO)

Yakira Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLCO. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,797,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth approximately $526,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at approximately $957,000. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,122,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 24,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

Bausch + Lomb stock opened at $12.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of -13.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.54. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $15.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.98. Bausch + Lomb Co. has a one year low of $11.94 and a one year high of $21.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.25 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Bausch + Lomb’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective (down previously from $24.00) on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bausch + Lomb currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.82.

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.