Critical Comparison: Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) and Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO)

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:CRL) and Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Charles River Laboratories International and Bausch + Lomb, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Charles River Laboratories International	1	4	11	0	2.63
Bausch + Lomb	1	9	4	0	2.21

Charles River Laboratories International currently has a consensus price target of $205.86, indicating a potential upside of 28.87%. Bausch + Lomb has a consensus price target of $18.08, indicating a potential upside of 12.28%. Given Charles River Laboratories International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Charles River Laboratories International is more favorable than Bausch + Lomb.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.9% of Charles River Laboratories International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.1% of Bausch + Lomb shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Charles River Laboratories International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Bausch + Lomb shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Charles River Laboratories International and Bausch + Lomb’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Charles River Laboratories International	-4.59%	15.36%	6.61%
Bausch + Lomb	-4.21%	3.60%	1.69%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Charles River Laboratories International and Bausch + Lomb”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Charles River Laboratories International	$4.02 billion	1.92	-$144.34 million	($3.76)	-42.49
Bausch + Lomb	$5.21 billion	1.10	-$360.00 million	($0.62)	-25.98

Charles River Laboratories International has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Bausch + Lomb. Charles River Laboratories International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bausch + Lomb, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Charles River Laboratories International has a beta of 1.44, indicating that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bausch + Lomb has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Charles River Laboratories International beats Bausch + Lomb on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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). The RMS segment produces and sells rodents, and purpose-bred rats and mice for use by researchers. This segment also provides a range of services to assist its clients in supporting the use of research models in research and screening pre-clinical drug candidates, including research models, genetically engineered models and services, insourcing solutions, and research animal diagnostic services. The DSA segment offers early and in vivo discovery services for the identification and validation of novel targets, chemical compounds, and antibodies through delivery of preclinical drug and therapeutic candidates ready for safety assessment; and safety assessment services, such as toxicology, pathology, safety pharmacology, bioanalysis, drug metabolism, and pharmacokinetics services. The Manufacturing segment provides in vitro methods for conventional and rapid quality control testing of sterile and non-sterile pharmaceuticals and consumer products. This segment also offers specialized testing of biologics that are outsourced by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It also provides contract vivarium operation services to biopharmaceutical clients. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

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. Its Pharmaceuticals segment offers proprietary and generic pharmaceutical products for post-operative treatments, as well as for the treatment of glaucoma, eye inflammation, ocular hypertension, dry eyes, and retinal diseases. The Surgical segment provides medical device equipment, consumables, and technologies for the treatment of cataracts, corneal, vitreous, and retinal eye conditions; and intraocular lenses and delivery systems, phacoemulsification equipment, and other surgical instruments and devices for cataract surgery. The company sells its products and services through direct sales forces and independent distributors. Bausch + Lomb Corporation was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in Vaughan, Canada. Bausch + Lomb Corporation is a subsidiary of Bausch Health Companies Inc.