Barnes & Noble Education’s (BNED) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $16.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock.

BNED has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Northland Securities set a $18.50 price objective on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Barnes & Noble Education presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of BNED opened at $11.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $388.86 million, a P/E ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.27. Barnes & Noble Education has a one year low of $5.90 and a one year high of $14.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.11. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 1.29%.The firm had revenue of $290.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.66 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Barnes & Noble Education will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barnes & Noble Education Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. Barnes & Noble Education’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 5,000 shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock in a transaction on Friday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.64, for a total value of $63,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 71,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $907,071.68. This trade represents a 6.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,513 shares of company stock valued at $129,173. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 225.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,839 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,967 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 261.1% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,972 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,872 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 205.5% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 1,412.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,139 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the 2nd quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

Barnes & Noble Education Company Profile

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.