Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases Shares of 36,574 National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of National Vision by 87.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in National Vision by 49.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC bought a new position in National Vision during the 4th quarter valued at $150,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in National Vision during the 4th quarter worth $176,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of National Vision in the 4th quarter worth about $178,000.

National Vision Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ EYE opened at $23.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.27. National Vision Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.56 and a 12-month high of $24.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $19.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.34.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on EYE. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of National Vision from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup raised National Vision from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on National Vision from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets set a $19.00 price target on National Vision and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on National Vision from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other National Vision news, SVP Ravi Acharya sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.75, for a total value of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,375. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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