Zacks Research Upgrades STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) to “Strong-Buy”

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

STAA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Veritas Investment Research set a $31.00 target price on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.45.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STAA opened at $22.32 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 318.90 and a beta of 1.17. STAAR Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $15.59 and a fifty-two week high of $35.87.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last released its 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 company had revenue of $93.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.60 million. STAAR Surgical had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 1.13%. STAAR Surgical’s quarterly revenue was up 111.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.34) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Two Seas Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $29,505,000 after buying an additional 240,568 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 878,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,419,000 after buying an additional 138,499 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in 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 valued at $15,348,000 after buying an additional 230,582 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the second quarter valued at about $6,578,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 257.7% in 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 in 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.