Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 653,279 Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings by 1.2%, owning approximately 12.17% of the company, valued at over $1 billion as of the latest filing.
• Equity analysts have a mixed outlook on Norwegian Cruise Line, with ratings ranging from "strong buy" to "neutral," and an average target price set at $27.20.
• Despite a revenue increase year-over-year, Norwegian Cruise Line reported lower than expected earnings in its latest quarter, missing the consensus EPS estimate by $0.01.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,960,561 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 653,279 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.17% of Norwegian Cruise Line worth $1,023,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. IPG Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 6.0% in the first quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Credit Capital Investments LLC acquired a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line in the first quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 27.7% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,050,860 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,924,000 after buying an additional 227,872 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 8.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 100,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,905,000 after buying an additional 7,665 shares during the period. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NCLH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $31.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.20.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Performance

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,501,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,124,770. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.18. The business's fifty day moving average price is $21.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.86. The firm has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.24. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has a one year low of $14.21 and a one year high of $29.29.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 7.52% and a return on equity of 59.88%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Norwegian Cruise Line Profile

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.