Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Upgraded to “Hold” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Norwegian Cruise Line from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $23.00 to $19.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an equal weight rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $20.67.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Performance

NYSE NCLH traded up $0.21 on Thursday, reaching $16.20. The stock had a trading volume of 18,773,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,692,431. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.16, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 2.59. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 12-month low of $12.70 and a 12-month high of $22.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.50.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 3.84% and a return on equity of 136.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.10) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norwegian Cruise Line

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NCLH. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,049,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,143,285,000 after purchasing an additional 26,676,150 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,697,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $819,008,000 after buying an additional 1,031,053 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 22.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,197,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499,622 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line during the fourth quarter worth about $83,243,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 3.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,425,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,456,000 after acquiring an additional 100,682 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Norwegian Cruise Line Company 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.