Wall Street Zen Upgrades National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) to “Hold”

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

NCMI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised shares of National CineMedia from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wedbush set a $5.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of National CineMedia from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $4.25 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, National CineMedia currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.81.

National CineMedia Price Performance

Shares of NCMI stock opened at $2.06 on Friday. National CineMedia has a one year low of $1.99 and a one year high of $4.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.16. The stock has a market cap of $193.19 million, a P/E ratio of -22.89 and a beta of 1.61.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The business services provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $58.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.34 million. National CineMedia had a negative net margin of 3.05% and a negative return on equity of 1.31%. Analysts predict that National CineMedia will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Maria Woods sold 12,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.09, for a total value of $25,475.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 176,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,524.54. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of National CineMedia

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in National CineMedia by 16.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,220,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,237,000 after acquiring an additional 444,984 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 3.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,997,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,094,000 after acquiring an additional 62,395 shares during the period. Luxor Capital Group LP lifted its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 61.3% during the first quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 1,820,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,553,000 after acquiring an additional 691,879 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of National CineMedia during the second quarter valued at $2,653,000. Finally, Zazove Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 78.3% during the first quarter. Zazove Associates LLC now owns 458,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 201,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

About National CineMedia

National CineMedia, Inc (NASDAQ:NCMI) is a media company focused on advertising and entertainment in movie theaters. Through its Noovie pre-show network, the company delivers advertising, branded content, movie-related entertainment and other programming to audiences before films begin.

National CineMedia sells and distributes national, regional and local advertising campaigns across participating cinema locations in the United States. Its offerings can include on-screen video advertising, interactive promotions, lobby advertising and other theater-based marketing programs designed to connect brands with moviegoers.

The company was established in 2005 and became a publicly traded company in 2007.