Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Price Target Raised to $30.00 at Macquarie

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) had its price objective lifted by Macquarie from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Norwegian Cruise Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $17.50 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.80.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

NCLH stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.88. 12,222,766 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,937,590. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.19, a current ratio of 0.24 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 2.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.86 and its 200 day moving average is $18.60. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 12-month low of $12.70 and a 12-month high of $26.73.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a return on equity of 105.44% and a net margin of 4.62%. Norwegian Cruise Line’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norwegian Cruise Line

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 120.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,498,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,889,000 after purchasing an additional 12,313,426 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Hill Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line during the second quarter worth approximately $23,479,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,568,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129,770 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line in the second quarter valued at $15,213,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 3,190.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 436,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,947,000 after buying an additional 422,970 shares during the period. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a cruise company in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. It offers itineraries ranging from three days to a 180-days calling on various ports, including Scandinavia, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Greek Isles, Alaska, Canada and New England, Hawaii, Asia, Tahiti and the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, Africa, India, South America, the Panama Canal, and the Caribbean.