Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) Short Interest Up 22.8% in June

Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 833,600 shares, a growth of 22.8% from the May 31st total of 679,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 326,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Vera Bradley Price Performance

VRA opened at $6.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.71 and a beta of 1.94. Vera Bradley has a one year low of $5.66 and a one year high of $8.35.

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 12th. The textile maker reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.32). Vera Bradley had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 0.96%. The firm had revenue of $80.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vera Bradley will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRA. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Vera Bradley by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,174 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Bradley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Vera Bradley by 258.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,017 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 6,503 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Bradley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Bradley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,000. Institutional investors own 59.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.