National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on NCMI. Wall Street Zen downgraded National CineMedia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 6th. Weiss Ratings raised National CineMedia from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Barrington Research set a $4.25 target price on National CineMedia in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wedbush set a $5.00 price target on National CineMedia and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4.81.

National CineMedia Trading Up 3.4%

NASDAQ:NCMI opened at $2.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $230.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.33 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.37. National CineMedia has a one year low of $2.16 and a one year high of $5.03.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The business services provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $58.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.34 million. National CineMedia had a negative net margin of 3.05% and a negative return on equity of 1.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that National CineMedia will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at National CineMedia

In other news, insider Maria Woods sold 12,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.77, for a total transaction of $45,458.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 163,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $615,120.74. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NCMI. Luxor Capital Group LP grew its position in shares of National CineMedia by 61.3% during the first quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 1,820,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,553,000 after acquiring an additional 691,879 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in National CineMedia by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,220,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,237,000 after purchasing an additional 444,984 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in National CineMedia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,653,000. Zazove Associates LLC boosted its stake in National CineMedia by 78.3% during the 1st quarter. Zazove Associates LLC now owns 458,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 201,564 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC grew its position in National CineMedia by 682.4% in the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 278,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 242,970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

National CineMedia Company Profile

National CineMedia, Inc is a leading U.S. out-of-home media company specializing in cinema advertising. The firm operates a proprietary network that delivers high-impact advertising content to moviegoers across a broad footprint of theaters, offering brands a targeted and immersive way to engage audiences in a captive, distraction-free environment.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, National CineMedia began as a joint venture among several major exhibition chains.