Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

BNED has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Northland Securities set a $18.50 target price on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.25.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Performance

NYSE BNED traded up $1.38 on Friday, hitting $12.79. 821,295 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 412,987. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $10.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.66. Barnes & Noble Education has a 52-week low of $5.90 and a 52-week high of $14.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $438.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty retailer reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $267.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.55 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 0.98%. Equities analysts expect that Barnes & Noble Education will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 2,210 shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.50, for a total value of $27,625.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 78,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,487.50. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Windward Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the fourth quarter worth about $15,623,000. Kanen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 30.6% during the 1st quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,090,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,445,000 after purchasing an additional 724,683 shares during the last quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 186.5% in the fourth quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 881,799 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,104,000 after acquiring an additional 573,992 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 323.8% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 516,521 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,079,000 after acquiring an additional 394,630 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 190.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 508,899 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,677,000 after purchasing an additional 333,567 shares during the last quarter. 38.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE: BNED) is a leading provider of educational products and services to the higher education community. The company operates retail campus bookstores under Barnes & Noble College, offering course materials, general merchandise, and digital content. In addition, Barnes & Noble Education delivers educational technology solutions through its digital learning platform and supplemental courseware.

Originally part of Barnes & Noble, Inc, the company completed its spin-off and initial public offering in February 2015 to focus exclusively on college retail and digital learning.