National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) Raised to “Buy” at Citigroup

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $21.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $13.00. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 22.31% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on EYE. Loop Capital increased their target price on National Vision from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of National Vision from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of National Vision from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of National Vision from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of National Vision from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National Vision currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.14.

National Vision Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of EYE stock opened at $17.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -85.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. National Vision has a fifty-two week low of $9.56 and a fifty-two week high of $17.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.73.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. National Vision had a negative net margin of 0.81% and a positive return on equity of 3.52%. The firm had revenue of $510.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $510.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that National Vision will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Vision

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of National Vision in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of National Vision by 309.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in National Vision by 87.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in National Vision during the first quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in National Vision by 61.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,362 shares during the last quarter.

National Vision Company Profile

National Vision Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America’s Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services.