National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE) Short Interest Up 13.4% in December

National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,720,000 shares, a growth of 13.4% from the December 15th total of 3,280,000 shares. Approximately 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Vision

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EYE. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in National Vision by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 58,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 3,228 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of National Vision by 21.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 110,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 19,563 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in National Vision by 28.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,975,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,952,000 after acquiring an additional 656,656 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in National Vision in the second quarter valued at about $277,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in National Vision by 153.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 127,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 77,096 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on National Vision from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

National Vision Stock Up 0.5 %

EYE stock opened at $10.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.21 and a 200 day moving average of $11.23. National Vision has a twelve month low of $9.56 and a twelve month high of $24.11. The firm has a market cap of $850.50 million, a PE ratio of -54.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.42.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.06. National Vision had a negative net margin of 0.81% and a positive return on equity of 3.52%. The business had revenue of $451.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.13 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. National Vision’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that National Vision will post 0.27 EPS 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.