William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in National Vision Holdings, Inc. $EYE

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC has acquired a new stake in National Vision Holdings, buying 3,559,690 shares valued at approximately $81.9 million, representing about 4.50% ownership of the company.
• National Vision recently reported a quarterly earnings performance of $0.18 EPS, surpassing analyst expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.7% to $486.42 million.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for National Vision, with recommendations ranging from a "buy" rating with a target of $36.00 to others maintaining a "neutral" stance, citing a consensus target price of $24.73.

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,559,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $81,908,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 4.50% of National Vision as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in National Vision by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in National Vision by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 24,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in National Vision by 69.3% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of National Vision by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 79,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of National Vision by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948 shares in the last quarter.

National Vision Price Performance

EYE stock opened at $25.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. National Vision Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $9.56 and a one year high of $29.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of -143.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.41.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. National Vision had a negative net margin of 0.75% and a positive return on equity of 3.56%. The company had revenue of $486.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that National Vision Holdings, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EYE has been the subject of several research reports. National Bankshares set a $30.00 price objective on shares of National Vision in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of National Vision from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $27.00 price objective on shares of National Vision and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of National Vision in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of National Vision in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other National Vision news, Chairman L Reade Fahs sold 137,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.33, for a total transaction of $3,342,942.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 544,795 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,254,862.35. This represents a 20.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

About National Vision

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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