National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of National Vision in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of National Vision in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. National Bankshares set a $30.00 target price on shares of National Vision in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of National Vision in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of National Vision from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.73.

National Vision Price Performance

Shares of EYE opened at $25.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -143.39, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.30. National Vision has a fifty-two week low of $9.56 and a fifty-two week high of $29.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.41.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.06. National Vision had a negative net margin of 0.75% and a positive return on equity of 3.56%. The company had revenue of $486.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $469.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that National Vision will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other National Vision news, Chairman L Reade Fahs sold 137,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.33, for a total value of $3,342,942.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 544,795 shares in the company, valued at $13,254,862.35. This represents a 20.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in National Vision by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,568,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,066,000 after acquiring an additional 156,741 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of National Vision by 6.9% during the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,996,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,850,000 after purchasing an additional 320,565 shares during the last quarter. Engine Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of National Vision by 53.3% during the first quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 3,875,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,648 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of National Vision in the 2nd quarter valued at about $81,908,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of National Vision by 2,030.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,495,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,437,000 after purchasing an additional 3,331,657 shares during the period.

National Vision Company Profile

National Vision Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America’s Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services.