Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (NYSE:BNEDGet Free Report)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $13.43, but opened at $13.94. Barnes & Noble Education shares last traded at $14.5930, with a volume of 246,402 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BNED. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Zacks Research raised Barnes & Noble Education to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Northland Securities initiated coverage on Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.50.

View Our Latest Analysis on Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $469.17 million, a PE ratio of -42.78 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.39.

Barnes & Noble Education Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kanen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 0.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. Windward Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education during the fourth quarter valued at $15,623,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 7.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,027,599 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,225,000 after acquiring an additional 67,365 shares during the period. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 186.5% during the 4th quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 881,799 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,104,000 after acquiring an additional 573,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 323.8% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 516,521 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,079,000 after purchasing an additional 394,630 shares during the period. 38.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barnes & Noble Education Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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