National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) Trading Down 9.5% Following Weak Earnings

National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) shares were down 9.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as low as $6.60 and last traded at $6.61. Approximately 1,343,022 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 120% from the average daily volume of 609,761 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.30.

The business services provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.01). National CineMedia had a net margin of 78.04% and a return on equity of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $62.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NCMI. Barrington Research upped their price objective on National CineMedia from $7.50 to $8.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. B. Riley boosted their target price on National CineMedia from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 target price (up from $6.00) on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Monday. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of National CineMedia by 38.9% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of National CineMedia by 37.6% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 537,822 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of National CineMedia by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,584,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,460,000 after acquiring an additional 18,347 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of National CineMedia during the 1st quarter valued at $298,000. Finally, Gendell Jeffrey L bought a new stake in shares of National CineMedia during the 1st quarter valued at $2,352,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

National CineMedia Stock Down 9.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.78. The company has a market cap of $638.33 million, a P/E ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 2.07.

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.