National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) Trading Up 4.4% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) shot up 4.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $6.05 and last traded at $6.00. 71,949 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 646,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NCMI. StockNews.com raised National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. William Blair reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.70.

National CineMedia Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $572.78 million, a P/E ratio of -24.10 and a beta of 2.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.46.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.30 million during 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%. On average, research analysts predict that National CineMedia, Inc. will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

National CineMedia Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at National CineMedia

In other National CineMedia news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 23,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.51, for a total value of $154,560.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,085.37. The trade was a 26.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd acquired 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,536,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,250,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,483,691.52. The trade was a 3.01 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of National CineMedia by 5.6% during 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in National CineMedia by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,923,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,412,000 after acquiring an additional 132,895 shares during the last quarter. Sycale Advisors NY LLC bought a new position in National CineMedia in the 4th quarter worth about $14,147,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of National CineMedia by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,961,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,835,000 after purchasing an additional 15,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of National CineMedia by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,157,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 222,498 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.