STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Upgraded at Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus upgraded STAAR Surgical from “hold” to “buy” and raised its price target from $28 to $31, implying approximately 48.5% upside from the stock’s current price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: four analysts rate the stock a Buy, six a Hold, and three a Sell, resulting in an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $28.45.
• STAAR Surgical recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.39 versus the $0.22 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 111.1% year over year to $93.53 million; the board also authorized a $50 million share-repurchase program.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $31.00 price objective on the medical instruments supplier's stock, up from their prior price objective of $28.00. Stifel Nicolaus' target price would suggest a potential upside of 48.54% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on STAAR Surgical in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Zacks Research downgraded STAAR Surgical from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Veritas Investment Research set a $31.00 price objective on STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.45.

STAAR Surgical Trading Up 1.8%

STAA opened at $20.87 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.19 and a beta of 1.21. STAAR Surgical has a twelve month low of $15.59 and a twelve month high of $35.87.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. The firm 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 111.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.34) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of STAA. Broadwood Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 15,019,491 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $346,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 105.3% in the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 2,472,390 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $57,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,019 shares during the period. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in STAAR Surgical in the second quarter worth $24,291,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in STAAR Surgical by 39.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 820,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $15,348,000 after purchasing an additional 230,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in STAAR Surgical during the second quarter valued at $6,578,000. Institutional investors own 96.70% of the company's stock.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR Surgical Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells implantable lenses for the eye, and companion delivery systems to deliver the lenses into the eye. The company provides implantable Collamer lens product family (ICLs) to treat visual disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. It markets its products to health care providers, including ophthalmic surgeons, vision and surgical centers, hospitals, government facilities, and distributors, as well as products are primarily used by ophthalmologists.

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