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

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $8.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. Benchmark’s price target suggests a potential upside of 12.83% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barrington Research raised National CineMedia from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on National CineMedia from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.50.

National CineMedia Price Performance

National CineMedia stock opened at $7.09 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $684.70 million, a P/E ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $6.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.35. National CineMedia has a 52 week low of $3.51 and a 52 week high of $7.14.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The business services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $54.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.87 million. National CineMedia had a return on equity of 3.50% and a net margin of 78.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.07) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that National CineMedia will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National CineMedia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of National CineMedia by 37.6% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,966,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,127,000 after purchasing an additional 537,822 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 187,613 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in National CineMedia by 270.0% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 208,649 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $916,000 after buying an additional 152,251 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in National CineMedia during the second quarter worth about $979,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in National CineMedia by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. 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.