National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on NCMI. Zacks Research raised National CineMedia from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wedbush set a $5.00 price objective on National CineMedia and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings cut National CineMedia from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. StoneX dropped their target price on National CineMedia from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $1.75 target price on National CineMedia in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.17.

National CineMedia Stock Up 10.0%

NASDAQ:NCMI traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1.87. 3,404,471 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 727,229. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. National CineMedia has a fifty-two week low of $1.40 and a fifty-two week high of $4.33. The firm has a market cap of $176.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.75.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 10th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $61.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.22 million. National CineMedia had a positive return on equity of 7.80% and a negative net margin of 10.69%. Equities research analysts anticipate that National CineMedia will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at National CineMedia

In other National CineMedia news, insider Maria Woods sold 12,189 shares of National CineMedia stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.09, for a total value of $25,475.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 176,806 shares in the company, valued at $369,524.54. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of National CineMedia by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 655,510 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 175,477 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in National CineMedia in the third quarter worth $380,000. State Street Corp increased its position in National CineMedia by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,492 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,572,000 after buying an additional 5,858 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in National CineMedia during the second quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC increased its position in National CineMedia by 682.4% during the second quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 278,577 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,059,000 after buying an additional 242,970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.49% of the company's stock.

About National CineMedia

National CineMedia, Inc. operates a cinema advertising network in the United States. Through its Noovie brand, the company sells advertising shown on movie-theater screens before feature films and provides promotional opportunities in theater lobbies and other cinema spaces. Its services include pre-show content and advertising, on-screen promotions, and digital campaigns designed to connect advertisers with moviegoers. National CineMedia works with theater exhibitors and advertisers to develop and distribute campaigns across participating cinemas.

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