National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.70.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NCMI. Wedbush raised National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia 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 report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, William Blair restated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other National CineMedia news, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd purchased 103,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.18 per share, for a total transaction of $537,088.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,310,433 shares in the company, valued at $53,408,042.94. This represents a 1.02 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National CineMedia

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 107,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in National CineMedia by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 4,084 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 502.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 4,237 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of National CineMedia by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 19,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 6,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of National CineMedia by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 476,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 7,130 shares in the last quarter. 69.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

National CineMedia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NCMI opened at $5.73 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 firm has a market capitalization of $545.45 million, a PE ratio of -22.92 and a beta of 1.92. National CineMedia has a 1-year low of $4.12 and a 1-year high of $7.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.52.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.30 million for 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%. On average, research analysts expect that National CineMedia will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

National CineMedia Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. National CineMedia’s payout ratio is currently -52.17%.

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.