Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on BNED. 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 price objective on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Up 4.0%

BNED stock opened at $13.42 on Monday. Barnes & Noble Education has a 12 month low of $5.90 and a 12 month high of $14.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $465.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.35.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $290.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.66 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 8.77%. Sell-side analysts expect that Barnes & Noble Education will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Barnes & Noble Education news, CAO Gary Luster sold 2,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $25,390.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 29,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $332,270.40. The trade was a 7.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jonathan Shar sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.04, for a total transaction of $331,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 325,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,591,146.40. This represents a 8.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Barnes & Noble Education

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BNED. Kanen Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 0.7% during the first quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,423,782 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,232,000 after buying an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 355,943 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,143,000 after buying an additional 193,876 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education in the second quarter worth approximately $785,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the second quarter valued at approximately $510,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the 1st quarter worth approximately $102,000. Institutional investors own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

About Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE: BNED) provides retail and educational-support services to colleges and universities in the United States. Through its campus bookstores and digital platforms, the company supplies course materials, including new, used, rental and digital textbooks, as well as educational technology and related academic resources.

The company also sells general merchandise and campus essentials, such as school supplies, apparel, insignia merchandise, gifts and convenience products.