Citigroup Upgrades National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) to "Buy"

Citigroup upgraded shares of National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $21.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $13.00.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EYE. Bank of America upgraded shares of National Vision from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of National Vision from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group boosted 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. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of National Vision from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of National Vision from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, National Vision has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.14.

National Vision Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EYE traded up $0.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.17. The company had a trading volume of 4,108,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,742,921. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.74. National Vision has a fifty-two week low of $9.56 and a fifty-two week high of $17.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. National Vision had a negative net margin of 0.81% and a positive return on equity of 3.52%. The business had revenue of $510.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $510.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that National Vision will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National Vision

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of National Vision by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,568,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,066,000 after buying an additional 156,741 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in National Vision by 138.6% during the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,675,539 shares of the company's stock worth $48,719,000 after purchasing an additional 2,715,582 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of National Vision by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,702,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,577,000 after acquiring an additional 30,235 shares in the last quarter. Engine Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of National Vision by 127.5% in the fourth quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 2,528,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of National Vision by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,308,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036,459 shares in the last quarter.

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.