Wedbush Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI)

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued on Tuesday, RTT News reports. They presently have a $6.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 0.17% from the stock’s previous close. Wedbush also issued estimates for National CineMedia’s Q2 2024 earnings at ($0.10) EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at ($0.01) EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.44 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.13 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.04) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.57 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $0.44 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $0.51 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “speculative buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Tuesday. Barrington Research raised shares of National CineMedia from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of National CineMedia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.56.

National CineMedia Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of National CineMedia stock opened at $5.99 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.71. The company has a market capitalization of $578.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. National CineMedia has a 12-month low of $3.10 and a 12-month high of $6.50.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The business services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $54.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.87 million. National CineMedia had a net margin of 426.76% and a return on equity of 3.45%. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that National CineMedia will post 0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National CineMedia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zazove Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of National CineMedia by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Zazove Associates LLC now owns 130,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 3,921 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in National CineMedia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in National CineMedia in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,914,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in National CineMedia by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,740,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,650 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,336,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,535,000 after acquiring an additional 187,613 shares in the last quarter. 69.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.