National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

NCMI has been the subject of a number of other reports. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of National CineMedia from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of National CineMedia from $7.50 to $8.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price objective (up from $6.00) on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National CineMedia currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.06.

National CineMedia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NCMI opened at $6.95 on Tuesday. National CineMedia has a twelve month low of $3.63 and a twelve month high of $7.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $659.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.80 and a beta of 2.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.02.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.01). National CineMedia had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 2.61%. The business had revenue of $62.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that National CineMedia will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National CineMedia

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NCMI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in National CineMedia by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,584,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,460,000 after buying an additional 18,347 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of National CineMedia in the first quarter valued at approximately $298,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of National CineMedia in the first quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of National CineMedia by 13.8% in the first quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 26,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in National CineMedia by 270.0% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 208,649 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 152,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

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.