STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded STAAR Surgical from “buy” to “hold.” The broader analyst consensus is also “Hold,” with four Buy, six Hold, and three Sell ratings and an average price target of $28.45.
• STAAR Surgical reported quarterly EPS of $0.39, exceeding the $0.22 estimate, while revenue reached $93.53 million and grew 111.1% year over year.
• The company authorized a $50 million share-repurchase program, allowing it to buy back up to 5.2% of outstanding shares; institutional investors own approximately 96.7% of the stock.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of STAAR Surgical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of STAAR Surgical from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.45.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

STAA opened at $21.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 303.90 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.46. STAAR Surgical has a 1 year low of $15.59 and a 1 year high of $35.87.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $93.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.60 million. STAAR Surgical had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 9.05%. STAAR Surgical's revenue for the quarter was up 111.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.34) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

STAAR Surgical announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 24th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Two Seas Capital LP lifted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 1,304,957 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $29,505,000 after acquiring an additional 240,568 shares during the period. American Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical in the second quarter worth approximately $24,291,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 39.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 820,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $15,348,000 after acquiring an additional 230,582 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical in the second quarter worth approximately $6,578,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 257.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 135,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,528,000 after acquiring an additional 97,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.70% of the company's stock.

STAAR Surgical Company Profile

STAAR Surgical is a medical device company focused on ophthalmic surgery and vision correction. The company develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses and related products designed to reduce or eliminate dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

Its principal product line is the EVO Visian Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL), a lens implanted inside the eye to correct myopia, with or without astigmatism. Unlike procedures that remove corneal tissue, ICL surgery preserves the eye's natural lens and is designed to be removable.

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