StockNews.com Upgrades National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) to “Hold”

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NCMI. Barrington Research dropped their price objective on National CineMedia from $8.25 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. William Blair restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.70.

National CineMedia Trading Up 3.4 %

National CineMedia stock opened at $5.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.77. National CineMedia has a 52 week low of $3.87 and a 52 week high of $7.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $526.51 million, a P/E ratio of -22.12 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.77 million. National CineMedia had a negative return on equity of 2.61% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. Analysts expect that National CineMedia will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at National CineMedia

In related news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 23,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.51, for a total value of $154,560.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,987 shares in the company, valued at $436,085.37. This trade represents a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd bought 103,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.18 per share, with a total value of $537,088.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,310,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,408,042.94. This represents a 1.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National CineMedia

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NCMI. Sycale Advisors NY LLC bought a new stake in National CineMedia during the fourth quarter worth $14,147,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of National CineMedia in the fourth quarter worth $4,546,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of National CineMedia during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in National CineMedia by 240.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 721,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,088,000 after acquiring an additional 509,756 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 5.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,936,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,905,000 after purchasing an additional 365,360 shares during the period. 69.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About National CineMedia

National CineMedia, Inc, through its subsidiary, National CineMedia, LLC, operates cinema advertising network in North America. It engages in the sale of advertising to national, regional, and local businesses in Noovie, a cinema advertising and entertainment show seen on movie screens; and sells advertising on its Lobby Entertainment Network, a series of strategically-placed screens located in movie theater lobbies, as well as other forms of advertising and promotions in theatre lobbies.