National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE) Short Interest Update

National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in 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 company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

National Vision Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EYE traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.80. 2,139,945 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,050,538. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $11.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.25. The company has a market cap of $850.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.57. National Vision has a 52 week low of $9.56 and a 52 week high of $24.11.

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $451.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that National Vision will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of National Vision

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EYE. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in National Vision by 153.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 127,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 77,096 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of National Vision by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,479,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,453,000 after buying an additional 1,330,023 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of National Vision by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,900,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,737,000 after buying an additional 45,754 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in National Vision by 17.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,412,292 shares of the company's stock worth $15,408,000 after buying an additional 208,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in National Vision during the third quarter valued at approximately $613,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of National Vision from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th.

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.