Analysts Set National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) Price Target at $7.70

National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.70.

NCMI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair restated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush upgraded shares of National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

National CineMedia Price Performance

NASDAQ:NCMI opened at $5.95 on Tuesday. National CineMedia has a 52-week low of $4.12 and a 52-week high of $7.60. The company has a market cap of $566.50 million, a P/E ratio of -23.80 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.67.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.77 million. National CineMedia had a negative return on equity of 2.61% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that National CineMedia will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National CineMedia Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. National CineMedia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at National CineMedia

In other news, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd acquired 103,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.18 per share, with a total value of $537,088.30. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 10,310,433 shares in the company, valued at $53,408,042.94. This represents a 1.02 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National CineMedia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in National CineMedia during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of National CineMedia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of National CineMedia during the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of National CineMedia during the fourth quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of National CineMedia in the third quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

National CineMedia Company Profile

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.