Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Receives "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company reiterated its “Buy” rating on Barnes & Noble Education and set a $16.00 price target, implying 43.69% upside from the stock’s $11.13 price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed overall: BNED has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $17.25, with two Buy, one Hold, and one Sell rating.
• In its latest quarter, the company reported an adjusted loss of $0.37 per share, beating estimates of a $0.48 loss, but revenue of $290.6 million fell short of the $306.66 million consensus forecast.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $16.00 price target on the specialty retailer's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective indicates a potential upside of 43.69% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Northland Securities set a $18.50 price objective on Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised Barnes & Noble Education to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.25.

Barnes & Noble Education Price Performance

BNED stock traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.13. The company had a trading volume of 609,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,602. 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 has a 1 year low of $5.90 and a 1 year high of $14.75. The company has a market capitalization of $386.05 million, a P/E ratio of 23.63 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.72.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 8th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.11. Barnes & Noble Education had a net margin of 0.98% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $290.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $306.66 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Barnes & Noble Education will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Barnes & Noble Education

In related news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 5,000 shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock in a transaction on Friday, July 17th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $907,071.68. The trade was a 6.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 10,513 shares of company stock valued at $129,173 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 261.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,972 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,872 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 225.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,839 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,967 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 205.5% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,326 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 1,412.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,139 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Barnes & Noble Education during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Institutional investors own 38.51% of the company's stock.

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.

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