Barrington Research Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI)

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Barrington Research in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $7.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock. Barrington Research’s price target points to a potential upside of 17.65% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on NCMI. William Blair restated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wedbush raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.70.

National CineMedia Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ NCMI opened at $5.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $566.50 million, a P/E ratio of -23.80 and a beta of 2.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.54 and its 200 day moving average is $6.75. National CineMedia has a 52 week low of $4.12 and a 52 week high of $7.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 23,742 shares of National CineMedia stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.51, for a total transaction of $154,560.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,987 shares in the company, valued at $436,085.37. This trade represents a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd purchased 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.12 per share, with a total value of $1,536,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,250,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,483,691.52. This trade represents a 3.01 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National CineMedia

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sycale Advisors NY LLC acquired a new stake in National CineMedia in the fourth quarter valued at $14,147,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of National CineMedia in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,546,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of National CineMedia in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of National CineMedia by 240.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 721,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,088,000 after acquiring an additional 509,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of National CineMedia by 5.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,936,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,905,000 after acquiring an additional 365,360 shares during the period. 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.