Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 588,022 Shares of National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. significantly increased its stake in National Vision Holdings, Inc. by 215% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 588,022 shares for a total ownership of 861,527 shares valued at approximately $11 million.
• Recent insider activity includes Ravi Acharya, an SVP of National Vision, selling 12,000 shares at an average price of $18.75, significantly reducing their stake in the company.
• National Vision reported better-than-expected earnings on May 7, with $0.34 earnings per share, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 5.7% year-over-year revenue growth.

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE - Free Report) by 215.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 861,527 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 588,022 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 1.09% of National Vision worth $11,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in National Vision in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of National Vision by 87.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,050 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 3,291 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of National Vision by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,318 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of National Vision in the 1st quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of National Vision by 61.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company's stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,362 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EYE has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $19.00 target price on shares of National Vision and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of National Vision from $15.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of National Vision from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of National Vision from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of National Vision from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Ravi Acharya sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.75, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $219,375. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

National Vision Stock Performance

Shares of EYE traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.71. 2,650,379 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,087,226. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $23.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.35. National Vision Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.56 and a twelve month high of $25.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.27.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $510.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $510.30 million. National Vision had a positive return on equity of 3.44% and a negative net margin of 1.40%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts predict that National Vision Holdings, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

National Vision 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.