Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CRL. Baird R W cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Charles River Laboratories International in a research report on Monday. They set a “sell” rating and a $151.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.23.

Charles River Laboratories International Price Performance

Charles River Laboratories International stock opened at $195.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $197.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.67. Charles River Laboratories International has a 12-month low of $161.65 and a 12-month high of $275.00. The stock has a market cap of $10.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 14.96%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,467 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,638,290,000 after buying an additional 66,161 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 1.7% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,908,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $394,359,000 after purchasing an additional 31,359 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.1% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,513,138 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $409,985,000 after purchasing an additional 45,079 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 11.9% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,251,618 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,559,000 after purchasing an additional 132,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP boosted its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 1,182,268 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $320,336,000 after purchasing an additional 26,892 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles River Laboratories International Company Profile

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing).