Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE:BNED) Short Interest Up 20.6% in February

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE:BNED) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 648,100 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the January 31st total of 537,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 509,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 5.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble Education from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Barnes & Noble Education Price Performance

BNED stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, reaching $9.29. 115,479 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 395,378. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.54 and a 200-day moving average of $10.61. The firm has a market cap of $280.69 million, a PE ratio of -0.28 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Barnes & Noble Education has a twelve month low of $6.05 and a twelve month high of $135.00.

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The specialty retailer reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter. Barnes & Noble Education had a negative net margin of 5.57% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barnes & Noble Education

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kanen Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Kanen Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,365,360 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $23,748,000 after acquiring an additional 784,576 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Road Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the fourth quarter worth about $5,220,000. 683 Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Barnes & Noble Education by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,514,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 2,751.4% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 304,335 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,056,000 after acquiring an additional 293,662 shares during the period. Finally, Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Barnes & Noble Education by 383.3% during the fourth quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 290,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,912,000 after buying an additional 230,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.51% of the company’s stock.

About Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes and Noble Education, Inc engages in the management and operation of bookstore chains in universities. It operates through the Retail and Wholesale segments. The Retail segment operates college, university, and K-12 school bookstores, physical bookstores, and virtual bookstores. The Wholesale segment sells and distributes new and used textbooks to physical bookstores.