Wall Street Zen Downgrades Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) to Hold

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BNED. Zacks Research raised Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Northland Securities set a $18.50 price target on Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.25.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of BNED opened at $12.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Barnes & Noble Education has a 12 month low of $5.90 and a 12 month high of $14.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.10 and its 200-day moving average is $9.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $424.96 million, a PE ratio of 26.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty retailer reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $267.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $267.55 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 0.98%. Equities research analysts forecast that Barnes & Noble Education will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Barnes & Noble Education

In related news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 2,237 shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.61, for a total value of $25,971.57. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 76,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $891,206.82. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 5,513 shares of company stock valued at $65,973 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kanen Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 724,683 shares in the last quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $8,104,000 after buying an additional 573,992 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education in the second quarter valued at about $344,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the third quarter valued at about $280,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the third quarter valued at about $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

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.