Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 728,915 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,218 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in National CineMedia were worth $4,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of National CineMedia by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 65,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 9,147 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in National CineMedia in the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,219 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 12,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of National CineMedia by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 476,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 7,130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NCMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush raised shares of National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. William Blair restated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 23,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.51, for a total transaction of $154,560.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,987 shares in the company, valued at $436,085.37. This represents a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd acquired 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,536,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 10,250,721 shares in the company, valued at $52,483,691.52. The trade was a 3.01 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

National CineMedia Stock Performance

NCMI opened at $5.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.70. National CineMedia, Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.12 and a 1 year high of $7.60. The stock has a market cap of $561.74 million, a P/E ratio of -23.60 and a beta of 2.19. 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 (NASDAQ:NCMI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. National CineMedia had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 2.61%. The business had revenue of $86.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.77 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that National CineMedia, Inc. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

National CineMedia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. National CineMedia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -52.17%.

National CineMedia 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.