Whitebox Advisors LLC Buys 199,856 Shares of Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO)

Whitebox Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,443,101 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 199,856 shares during the period. Whitebox Advisors LLC owned 0.41% of Bausch + Lomb worth $26,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,450 shares of the company's stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC bought a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth about $5,797,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the 4th quarter valued at about $665,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BLCO. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bausch + Lomb from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $15.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bausch + Lomb presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

Bausch + Lomb stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.19. 660,693 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 650,792. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $13.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.79. Bausch + Lomb Co. has a 52 week low of $10.45 and a 52 week high of $21.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.10). Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 6.62% and a positive return on equity of 3.35%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.