National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) Receives Outperform Rating from Barrington Research

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Barrington Research in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock. Barrington Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.59% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on NCMI. StockNews.com raised shares of National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush upgraded shares of National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.70.

National CineMedia Price Performance

NCMI opened at $5.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $543.65 million, a P/E ratio of -22.84 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $6.57 and a 200-day moving average of $6.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46. National CineMedia has a 1-year low of $4.03 and a 1-year high of $7.60.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $84.77 million. National CineMedia had a negative return on equity of 2.61% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. Equities analysts expect that National CineMedia will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 23,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,085.37. This represents a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd bought 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,536,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 10,250,721 shares in the company, valued at $52,483,691.52. This represents a 3.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National CineMedia

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of National CineMedia during the 4th quarter worth about $384,000. State of Wyoming increased its stake in shares of National CineMedia by 2,562.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 69,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 66,927 shares during the period. Sycale Advisors NY LLC bought a new stake in National CineMedia during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,147,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in National CineMedia during the 4th quarter valued at $182,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of National CineMedia by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 19,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 6,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.