Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys Shares of 11,512 National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 11,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of National Vision by 87.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of National Vision by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of National Vision during the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of National Vision during the 4th quarter worth approximately $176,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in National Vision during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $178,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Ravi Acharya sold 12,000 shares of National Vision stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.75, for a total value of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,375. The trade was a 50.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of National Vision from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of National Vision from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. National Bankshares set a $30.00 price objective on shares of National Vision in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of National Vision from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $19.00 price target on shares of National Vision and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.10.

National Vision Price Performance

EYE opened at $25.09 on Monday. National Vision Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.56 and a 12-month high of $25.52. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. National Vision had a positive return on equity of 3.44% and a negative net margin of 1.40%. The company had revenue of $510.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $510.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. National Vision’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that National Vision Holdings, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About National Vision

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.