Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Vera Bradley Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRA opened at $6.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.29 million, a P/E ratio of 25.76 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.23. Vera Bradley has a fifty-two week low of $4.60 and a fifty-two week high of $8.35.

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The textile maker reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $133.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.06 million. Vera Bradley had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 1.66%. Research analysts forecast that Vera Bradley will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vera Bradley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Vera Bradley by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,321,921 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $17,809,000 after buying an additional 51,122 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vera Bradley by 199.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,888,790 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $12,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,682 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vera Bradley by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,774,779 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $13,613,000 after purchasing an additional 137,181 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Vera Bradley by 93.6% during the 4th quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 1,762,471 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $13,571,000 after purchasing an additional 852,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vera Bradley by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 869,226 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $6,667,000 after purchasing an additional 17,024 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.88% of the company’s stock.

About Vera Bradley

Vera Bradley, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells women's handbags, luggage and travel items, fashion and home accessories, and gifts. It operates through three segments: Vera Bradley Direct, Vera Bradley Indirect, and Pura Vida. The company offers bag products, such as totes, crossbodies, satchels, clutches, backpacks, baby bags, and lunch bags; accessories, including ID holders, lanyards, wallets, wristlets, eyewear, scarves, hair accessories, and various technology accessories; bracelets, rings, and necklaces under Pura Vida brand name; and travel products consisting of rolling luggage, cosmetics, and travel and packing accessories, as well as travel bags comprising duffel and weekend bags.