National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at UBS Group from $30.00 to $32.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 36.96% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on EYE. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of National Vision in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of National Vision from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $27.00 target price on shares of National Vision and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of National Vision in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of National Vision from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.91.

National Vision Price Performance

Shares of EYE stock traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.37. 1,011,286 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,072,462. National Vision has a twelve month low of $9.93 and a twelve month high of $29.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.52.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.06. National Vision had a negative net margin of 0.75% and a positive return on equity of 3.56%. The business had revenue of $486.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that National Vision will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at National Vision

In other National Vision news, Chairman L Reade Fahs sold 137,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.33, for a total value of $3,342,942.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 544,795 shares in the company, valued at $13,254,862.35. This represents a 20.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National Vision

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in National Vision by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of National Vision by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 68,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of National Vision by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 23,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of National Vision by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of National Vision during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000.

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.