Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.11, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $290.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.66 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 8.69%.

Barnes & Noble Education Price Performance

Barnes & Noble Education stock opened at $10.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 1.27. Barnes & Noble Education has a 52-week low of $5.90 and a 52-week high of $14.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Barnes & Noble Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Barnes & Noble Education’s payout ratio is 68.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.64, for a total transaction of $63,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 71,762 shares in the company, valued at $907,071.68. The trade was a 6.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,513 shares of company stock worth $129,173. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BNED. Windward Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,623,000. Kanen Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,090,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,445,000 after purchasing an additional 724,683 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 323.8% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 516,521 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,079,000 after purchasing an additional 394,630 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 333,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 123.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 402,109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,734,000 after buying an additional 221,936 shares during the last quarter. 38.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BNED shares. Zacks Research raised Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Barnes & Noble Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Northland Securities set a $18.50 target price on Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Barnes & Noble Education from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

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.