Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

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

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BNED opened at $11.93 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $11.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.83. Barnes & Noble Education has a fifty-two week low of $5.90 and a fifty-two week high of $14.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty retailer reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 0.98%.The firm had revenue of $267.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.55 million. As a group, analysts predict that Barnes & Noble Education will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barnes & Noble Education Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Barnes & Noble Education’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Barnes & Noble Education news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 2,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.61, for a total value of $25,971.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 76,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $891,206.82. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,513 shares of company stock valued at $65,973. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Barnes & Noble Education

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 1,412.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,139 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 724,683 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 104,205 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 51,190 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 123.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 402,109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after buying an additional 221,936 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education in the 2nd quarter valued at $344,000. 38.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.