Smith Group Asset Management LLC Buys New Shares in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 11,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line during the third quarter worth about $3,821,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,544,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,678,000 after buying an additional 23,075 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,500,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,791,000 after acquiring an additional 94,178 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 1,104.7% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 178,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,663,000 after acquiring an additional 163,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in the third quarter worth $615,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Norwegian Cruise Line

In other news, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line 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 owns 116,270 shares in the company, valued at $3,174,171. The trade was a 24.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Kempa sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.86, for a total transaction of $417,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 253,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,059,333.96. This represents a 5.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,344 shares of company stock worth $2,269,731 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NCLH shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup upgraded Norwegian Cruise Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upgraded Norwegian Cruise Line from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $28.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.27.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

NYSE:NCLH opened at $28.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 2.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.61. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has a 12 month low of $14.69 and a 12 month high of $28.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35.

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

About Norwegian Cruise Line

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.