StockNews.com Upgrades Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) to “Hold”

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.47.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NCLH opened at $27.32 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.55 and its 200-day moving average is $18.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 2.67. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 1-year low of $12.70 and a 1-year high of $27.93.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 99.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norwegian Cruise Line

In other news, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $1,046,791.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 116,270 shares in the company, valued at $3,174,171. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $1,046,791.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 116,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,174,171. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Kempa sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.86, for a total transaction of $417,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 253,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,059,333.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 82,344 shares of company stock worth $2,269,731. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NCLH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,539,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,036,870,000 after buying an additional 324,287 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 120.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,498,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,889,000 after acquiring an additional 12,313,426 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,216,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,136,000 after acquiring an additional 102,948 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line in the third quarter valued at approximately $179,146,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 32.9% in the second 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. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norwegian Cruise Line Company Profile

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.