Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Key Points

• BNED beat earnings expectations, reporting a quarterly loss of $0.37 per share versus the consensus estimate of a $0.48 loss. Revenue totaled $290.6 million, below the $306.66 million estimate.
• Shares fell 3.6% to $12.27 following the results. Barnes & Noble Education also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, representing a 2.6% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with the stock carrying an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $17.25; institutional investors own 38.51% of the company.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.11, FiscalAI reports. Barnes & Noble Education had a net margin of 0.98% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business had revenue of $290.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.66 million.

Barnes & Noble Education Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of BNED stock traded down $0.45 on Tuesday, hitting $12.27. The stock had a trading volume of 348,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,465. Barnes & Noble Education has a twelve month low of $5.90 and a twelve month high of $14.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $425.24 million, a P/E ratio of 26.10 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.69.

Barnes & Noble Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Barnes & Noble Education's payout ratio is currently 68.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barnes & Noble Education

In related news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.64, for a total transaction of $63,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 71,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $907,071.68. This trade represents a 6.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 10,513 shares of company stock valued at $129,173 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kanen Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,399,982 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $30,811,000 after purchasing an additional 312,054 shares during the last quarter. Windward Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the fourth quarter worth about $15,623,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 7.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,027,599 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $10,225,000 after purchasing an additional 67,365 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 323.8% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 516,521 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $6,079,000 after buying an additional 394,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 190.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 508,899 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,677,000 after purchasing an additional 333,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BNED shares. Northland Securities set a $18.50 target price on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Barnes & Noble Education to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.25.

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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