Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Vera Bradley Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Vera Bradley stock opened at $6.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.44 million, a P/E ratio of 25.52 and a beta of 1.89. Vera Bradley has a 52 week low of $4.60 and a 52 week high of $8.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $7.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.25.

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The textile maker reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $133.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.06 million. Vera Bradley had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 6.69%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vera Bradley will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vera Bradley

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vera Bradley by 9.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 313,606 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 26,735 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vera Bradley during the first quarter worth $80,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vera Bradley by 11.4% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 21,227 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Vera Bradley by 13.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,809 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vera Bradley by 2.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,321,921 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $17,809,000 after purchasing an additional 51,122 shares during the period. 59.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 consisting of rolling luggage, cosmetics, and travel and packing accessories, as well as travel bags comprising duffel and weekend bags.