Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) and Its Rivals Critical Review

Norwegian Cruise Line (NASDAQ:NCLH – Get Rating) is one of 30 public companies in the “Water transportation” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Norwegian Cruise Line to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Norwegian Cruise Line and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Norwegian Cruise Line	-46.86%	-286.66%	-10.87%
Norwegian Cruise Line Competitors	13.86%	-14.90%	2.92%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Norwegian Cruise Line and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Norwegian Cruise Line	0	0	0	0	N/A
Norwegian Cruise Line Competitors	302	1162	1867	33	2.48

As a group, “Water transportation” companies have a potential upside of 57.15%. Given Norwegian Cruise Line’s peers higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Norwegian Cruise Line has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Volatility and Risk

Norwegian Cruise Line has a beta of 2.51, suggesting that its share price is 151% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norwegian Cruise Line’s peers have a beta of 1.41, suggesting that their average share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

57.2% of Norwegian Cruise Line shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.8% of shares of all “Water transportation” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Norwegian Cruise Line shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of shares of all “Water transportation” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Norwegian Cruise Line and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Norwegian Cruise Line	$4.84 billion	-$2.27 billion	-2.33
Norwegian Cruise Line Competitors	$2.82 billion	-$689.72 million	13.10

Norwegian Cruise Line has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Norwegian Cruise Line is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Norwegian Cruise Line peers beat Norwegian Cruise Line on 7 of the 10 factors compared.

Norwegian Cruise Line Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. engages in the provision of cruise travel services. It provides cruise experiences for travelers with itineraries in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, Canada, Bermuda, Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii. It also offers an entirely inter-island itinerary in Hawaii. Its brands include Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Miami, FL.