STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on STAA. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wedbush dropped their target price on STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on STAAR Surgical in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STAAR Surgical has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.45.

STAAR Surgical Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ STAA opened at $22.32 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 318.90 and a beta of 1.17. STAAR Surgical has a 12-month low of $15.59 and a 12-month high of $35.87.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $93.53 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 111.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.34) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STAAR Surgical announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 24th that permits the company to buy back $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 5.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Seas Capital LP lifted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 22.6% in the third quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 1,304,957 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,505,000 after purchasing an additional 240,568 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical during the second quarter valued at approximately $24,291,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 230,582 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,578,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 257.7% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 135,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,528,000 after buying an additional 97,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

About STAAR Surgical

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.