Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) Upgraded 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 research report released on Wednesday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Charles River Laboratories International from $290.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Baird R W lowered Charles River Laboratories International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Charles River Laboratories International from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $225.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.23.

Charles River Laboratories International Stock Performance

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

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical research company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.41. Charles River Laboratories International had a return on equity of 14.96% and a net margin of 10.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International will post 10.01 EPS for the current year.

Charles River Laboratories International declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles River Laboratories International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Charles River Laboratories International in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,095,000. Cardinal Capital Management raised its position in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 3.1% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 10,504 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,069,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 5.0% in the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in Charles River Laboratories International during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Charles River Laboratories International by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,672 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.91% of the company’s stock.

About Charles River Laboratories International

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).