Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) Short Interest Up 39.4% in August

Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,430,000 shares, an increase of 39.4% from the August 15th total of 2,460,000 shares. Currently, 15.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 508,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Vera Bradley during the 2nd quarter worth $76,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vera Bradley by 37.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 500,578 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 137,552 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in Vera Bradley in the second quarter valued at about $81,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Vera Bradley by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 445,840 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,791,000 after purchasing an additional 54,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Vera Bradley by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,474,763 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $9,232,000 after purchasing an additional 64,624 shares during the period. 59.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Vera Bradley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th.

Vera Bradley Trading Down 1.2 %

VRA stock traded down $0.06 on Friday, hitting $4.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 673,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,193. The stock has a market cap of $144.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $6.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.59. Vera Bradley has a 1 year low of $4.38 and a 1 year high of $8.35.

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 11th. The textile maker reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.18). Vera Bradley had a net margin of 0.19% and a return on equity of 2.75%. The business had revenue of $110.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $129.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vera Bradley will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Vera Bradley

Vera Bradley, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells women's handbags, luggage and travel items, fashion and home accessories, and gifts. It operates through three segments: Vera Bradley Direct, Vera Bradley Indirect, and Pura Vida. The company offers bag products, such as totes, crossbodies, satchels, clutches, backpacks, baby bags, and lunch bags; accessories, including ID holders, lanyards, wallets, wristlets, eyewear, scarves, hair accessories, and various technology accessories; bracelets, rings, and necklaces under Pura Vida brand name; and travel products consist of rolling luggage, cosmetics, and travel and packing accessories, as well as travel bags comprising duffel and weekend bags.