Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 100,699 National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 100,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $669,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NCMI. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of National CineMedia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of National CineMedia in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $97,000. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of National CineMedia in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 12,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of National CineMedia in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,000. 69.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at National CineMedia

In other National CineMedia news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 23,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.51, for a total transaction of $154,560.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,085.37. The trade was a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd purchased 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.12 per share, with a total value of $1,536,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 10,250,721 shares in the company, valued at $52,483,691.52. This trade represents a 3.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on NCMI shares. William Blair reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush raised National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.70.

National CineMedia Stock Performance

NCMI stock opened at $5.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.72. National CineMedia, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.12 and a fifty-two week high of $7.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $544.60 million, a PE ratio of -22.88 and a beta of 2.19.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 2.61%. Analysts forecast that National CineMedia, Inc. will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

National CineMedia Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th. National CineMedia’s payout ratio is -52.17%.

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.