ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 6,217 Shares of National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) by 46.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,217 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in National CineMedia were worth $130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in National CineMedia by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 12,281 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in National CineMedia by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 107,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 3,219 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of National CineMedia in the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of National CineMedia by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 65,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 9,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of National CineMedia by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 728,915 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,840,000 after acquiring an additional 7,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at National CineMedia

In other news, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd bought 103,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.18 per share, for a total transaction of $537,088.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,310,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,408,042.94. The trade was a 1.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NCMI shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of National CineMedia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.20.

National CineMedia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NCMI opened at $5.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $476.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.20 and a beta of 2.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.25. National CineMedia, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.12 and a fifty-two 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 results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $34.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.13 million. National CineMedia had a negative return on equity of 2.61% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that National CineMedia, Inc. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National CineMedia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. National CineMedia’s dividend payout ratio is presently -63.16%.

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.