National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

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

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. William Blair reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wedbush raised National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th.

National CineMedia Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of National CineMedia stock opened at $5.72 on Tuesday. National CineMedia has a 1-year low of $4.12 and a 1-year high of $7.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.65. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $544.60 million, a PE ratio of -22.88 and a beta of 2.19.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.77 million. National CineMedia had a negative return on equity of 2.61% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that National CineMedia will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

National CineMedia Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th. National CineMedia’s payout ratio is -52.17%.

Insider Activity

In other National CineMedia news, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd bought 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,536,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,250,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,483,691.52. This represents a 3.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National CineMedia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in National CineMedia in the third quarter worth $97,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 240.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 509,756 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in National CineMedia in the 3rd quarter worth about $292,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in National CineMedia during the 3rd quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in National CineMedia by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,936,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,905,000 after buying an additional 365,360 shares during the period. 69.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.