National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE) Short Interest Update

National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE) saw a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,120,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the August 31st total of 4,800,000 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EYE has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on National Vision from $16.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on National Vision from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on National Vision from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, National Vision currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National Vision

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EYE. CWM LLC grew its position in National Vision by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in National Vision by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in National Vision by 1.7% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 68,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in National Vision by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of National Vision in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000.

National Vision Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ EYE traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $10.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,887,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,478,628. The company has a market capitalization of $857.10 million, a P/E ratio of -11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.55. National Vision has a 52 week low of $9.60 and a 52 week high of $24.11.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.06. National Vision had a positive return on equity of 3.53% and a negative net margin of 4.00%. The company had revenue of $451.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that National Vision will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Vision Company Profile

National Vision Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America's Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services.