Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Shares Cross Below 50-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• BNED shares fell below their 50-day moving average, trading as low as $11.40 versus the $11.85 average, and last changing hands at $11.625.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.25, with ratings ranging from Sell to Buy.
• The company exceeded quarterly EPS expectations but missed revenue estimates, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, yielding approximately 2.8% annually.

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE:BNED - Get Free Report) passed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.85 and traded as low as $11.40. Barnes & Noble Education shares last traded at $11.6250, with a volume of 338,266 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNED has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Northland Securities set a $18.50 target price on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barnes & Noble Education presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.25.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.11. The company has a market capitalization of $403.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.44.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $290.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.66 million. Barnes & Noble Education had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 1.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Barnes & Noble Education, Inc will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barnes & Noble Education Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Barnes & Noble Education's dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Barnes & Noble Education news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.64, for a total transaction of $63,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 71,762 shares of the company's stock, valued at $907,071.68. This represents a 6.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gary Luster sold 2,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $25,390.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 29,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $332,270.40. This represents a 7.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,570 shares of company stock worth $458,138. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 557.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 9,313 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 7,897 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Kanen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,423,782 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $30,232,000 after buying an additional 23,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Barnes & Noble Education in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $510,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.51% of the company's stock.

About Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc NYSE: BNED provides retail and educational-support services to colleges and universities in the United States. Through its campus bookstores and digital platforms, the company supplies course materials, including new, used, rental and digital textbooks, as well as educational technology and related academic resources.

The company also sells general merchandise and campus essentials, such as school supplies, apparel, insignia merchandise, gifts and convenience products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.