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

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $306.66 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 0.98%.

Barnes & Noble Education Price Performance

BNED stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.27. 348,783 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 294,465. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.69. The company has a market cap of $425.24 million, a P/E ratio of 26.10 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 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. Barnes & Noble Education’s dividend payout ratio is 68.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.64, for a total value of $63,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 71,762 shares in the company, valued at $907,071.68. This trade represents a 6.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,513 shares of company stock valued at $129,173. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kanen Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 30,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 149,380.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 22,422 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 22,407 shares during the last quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on BNED shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Barnes & Noble Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised Barnes & Noble Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Barnes & Noble Education from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Northland Securities set a $18.50 price target on Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Friday, June 26th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.