Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The specialty retailer reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10, FiscalAI reports. Barnes & Noble Education had a negative return on equity of 20.37% and a negative net margin of 0.57%.The firm had revenue of $267.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.55 million.

Barnes & Noble Education Price Performance

Barnes & Noble Education stock opened at $11.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.71 million, a PE ratio of -35.69 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Barnes & Noble Education has a 12-month low of $5.90 and a 12-month high of $14.75.

Barnes & Noble Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNED has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Northland Securities set a $18.50 price target on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a report on Friday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Barnes & Noble Education has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.25.

Insider Activity at Barnes & Noble Education

In related news, CFO Jason Snagusky sold 2,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.50, for a total transaction of $27,625.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 78,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,487.50. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BNED. Windward Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education in the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,623,000. Kanen Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,090,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,445,000 after acquiring an additional 724,683 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 323.8% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 516,521 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,079,000 after acquiring an additional 394,630 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 190.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 508,899 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,677,000 after purchasing an additional 333,567 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 123.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 402,109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 221,936 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

Barnes & Noble Education Company Profile

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE: BNED) is a leading provider of educational products and services to the higher education community. The company operates retail campus bookstores under Barnes & Noble College, offering course materials, general merchandise, and digital content. In addition, Barnes & Noble Education delivers educational technology solutions through its digital learning platform and supplemental courseware.

Originally part of Barnes & Noble, Inc, the company completed its spin-off and initial public offering in February 2015 to focus exclusively on college retail and digital learning.