Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $22.18 and last traded at $22.18, with a volume of 1666196 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NCLH. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norwegian Cruise Line has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.30.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.19. The company has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 2.71.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 105.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Norwegian Cruise Line

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 9.3% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 875.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 122,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,563,000 after buying an additional 109,892 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 201,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 10,174 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 26.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,008,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,946,000 after acquiring an additional 212,787 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line during the first quarter worth about $87,000. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.