Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Stock Price Up 5.8% – Should You Buy?

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH)’s share price shot up 5.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $27.28 and last traded at $27.92. 1,888,906 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 7,616,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on NCLH. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Norwegian Cruise Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.27.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 2.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.65.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.05. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 99.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Norwegian Cruise Line’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Norwegian Cruise Line news, insider Andrea Demarco sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $805,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 97,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,701,159.04. This represents a 22.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 116,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,174,171. This trade represents a 24.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 82,344 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,731. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Norwegian Cruise Line

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NCLH. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 192.3% in the third quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 489.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,817 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.58% of the company’s stock.

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.