Short Interest in Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) Expands By 17.8%

Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,040,000 shares, an increase of 17.8% from the August 31st total of 3,430,000 shares. Approximately 19.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 484,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vera Bradley

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRA. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Bradley in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Vera Bradley by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 199,308 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 4,143 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Vera Bradley by 15.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 36,626 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 4,855 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vera Bradley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,345,550 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $9,150,000 after buying an additional 6,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Vera Bradley by 36.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 37,800 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 10,102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.88% of the company’s stock.

Vera Bradley Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRA opened at $5.53 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.44. Vera Bradley has a 1 year low of $4.38 and a 1 year high of $8.35. The company has a market capitalization of $156.11 million, a P/E ratio of 39.50 and a beta of 1.89.

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 11th. The textile maker reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.18). Vera Bradley had a return on equity of 2.75% and a net margin of 0.19%. The business had revenue of $110.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vera Bradley will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current 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.