National CineMedia’s (NCMI) “Speculative Buy” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI)‘s stock had its “speculative buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Benchmark in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. Benchmark’s target price points to a potential upside of 27.93% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on NCMI. B. Riley raised National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $4.50 to $6.75 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective 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.

National CineMedia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NCMI opened at $4.69 on Tuesday. National CineMedia has a 1 year low of $2.57 and a 1 year high of $5.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.29. The company has a market capitalization of $455.05 million, a PE ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.93.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 18th. The business services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). National CineMedia had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 426.68%. The firm had revenue of $90.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.25 million. On average, research analysts predict that National CineMedia will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of National CineMedia

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in National CineMedia by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,740,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,650 shares in the last quarter. Glendon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of National CineMedia during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,538,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of National CineMedia in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,914,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in National CineMedia by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,336,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,535,000 after acquiring an additional 187,613 shares during the period. Finally, PSquared Asset Management AG acquired a new stake in shares of National CineMedia during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,067,000. 69.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.