Insider Buying: National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) Major Shareholder Acquires 300,000 Shares of Stock

National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd acquired 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.12 per share, with a total value of $1,536,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 10,250,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,483,691.52. The trade was a 3.01 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Blantyre Capital Ltd also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 10th, Blantyre Capital Ltd bought 103,685 shares of National CineMedia stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.18 per share, with a total value of $537,088.30.

National CineMedia Stock Performance

Shares of NCMI opened at $5.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.46. National CineMedia, Inc. has a one year low of $3.71 and a one year high of $7.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $507.80 million, a P/E ratio of -21.40 and a beta of 2.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $6.59 and a 200 day moving average of $6.78.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. National CineMedia had a negative return on equity of 2.61% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $86.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.77 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that National CineMedia, Inc. will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of National CineMedia

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in National CineMedia by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 107,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in National CineMedia during the fourth quarter valued at about $408,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in National CineMedia by 240.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 721,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,088,000 after purchasing an additional 509,756 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in National CineMedia during the third quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in National CineMedia by 23.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,157,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 222,498 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on NCMI shares. Barrington Research reduced their target price on National CineMedia from $8.25 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. William Blair reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.70.

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.