Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Vera Bradley Price Performance

Vera Bradley stock opened at $6.84 on Tuesday. Vera Bradley has a 1-year low of $4.60 and a 1-year high of $8.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.23. The stock has a market cap of $210.40 million, a PE ratio of 27.36 and a beta of 1.89.

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The textile maker reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.04). Vera Bradley had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The business had revenue of $133.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $136.06 million. On average, research analysts expect that Vera Bradley will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vera Bradley

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Vera Bradley by 53.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 194,830 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 68,199 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Vera Bradley by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 78,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 21,900 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Bradley in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Bradley in the third quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vera Bradley during the third quarter worth about $473,000. 59.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vera Bradley

Vera Bradley, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells women's handbags, luggage and travel items, fashion and home accessories, and gifts. It operates through three segments: Vera Bradley Direct, Vera Bradley Indirect, and Pura Vida. The company offers bag products, such as totes, crossbodies, satchels, clutches, backpacks, baby bags, and lunch bags; accessories, including ID holders, lanyards, wallets, wristlets, eyewear, scarves, hair accessories, and various technology accessories; bracelets, rings, and necklaces under Pura Vida brand name; and travel products consist of rolling luggage, cosmetics, and travel and packing accessories, as well as travel bags comprising duffel and weekend bags.