Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Earns Hold Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Barnes & Noble Education from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. Craig Hallum reissued a hold rating and issued a $1.25 price target (down from $3.00) on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Thursday, January 11th.

Barnes & Noble Education Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BNED opened at $0.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $0.98. Barnes & Noble Education has a 52 week low of $0.18 and a 52 week high of $2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $12.23 million, a PE ratio of -0.15 and a beta of 1.81.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $456.67 million during the quarter. Barnes & Noble Education had a negative net margin of 5.22% and a negative return on equity of 51.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 390.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 774,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 616,984 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,452,248 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,541,000 after buying an additional 374,083 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 126.8% in the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 430,835 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 240,836 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Barnes & Noble Education by 249.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 311,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 222,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 491.7% during the first quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 203,549 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 169,149 shares in the last quarter. 38.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc operates bookstores for college and university campuses, and K-12 institutions in the United States. It operates through Retail and Wholesale segments. The company sells and rents new and used print textbooks, digital textbooks, and publisher hosted digital courseware through physical and virtual bookstores, as well as directly to students through Textbooks.com.