Short Interest in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Rises By 11.7%

Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the November 15th total of 967,300 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 648,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLCO traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.60. 756,145 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,004. The stock has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.71, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Bausch + Lomb has a twelve month low of $13.16 and a twelve month high of $21.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.53.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.17% and a negative net margin of 7.86%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLCO. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,122,000. Clearline Capital LP grew its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 136.8% in the 2nd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 712,055 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,339,000 after buying an additional 411,404 shares during the period. Whitebox Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,545,946 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,447,000 after buying an additional 339,643 shares during the period. Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,797,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,331,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.58.

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.