National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on NCMI. Benchmark reaffirmed a “speculative buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of National CineMedia from $4.50 to $5.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $4.50 to $6.75 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th.

National CineMedia Stock Down 2.1 %

NCMI opened at $4.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.24. National CineMedia has a twelve month low of $1.80 and a twelve month high of $5.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $449.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.89.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 18th. The business services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). National CineMedia had a net margin of 426.68% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The company had revenue of $90.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.25 million. Equities research analysts forecast that National CineMedia will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National CineMedia

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of National CineMedia by 1,792,883.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,755,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,755,155 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of National CineMedia by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,740,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,650 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of National CineMedia by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,566,209 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,764,000 after acquiring an additional 79,276 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC bought a new position in shares of National CineMedia during the fourth quarter worth $12,504,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of National CineMedia by 1,126.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,336,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,354 shares during the last quarter. 69.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.