Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $25.41, but opened at $26.46. Norwegian Cruise Line shares last traded at $26.73, with a volume of 2,258,547 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NCLH. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $19.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on Norwegian Cruise Line from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.27.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.99.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.05. Norwegian Cruise Line had a return on equity of 99.31% and a net margin of 5.87%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. Norwegian Cruise Line’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Norwegian Cruise Line news, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $1,046,791.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 116,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,174,171. This trade represents a 24.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Kempa sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.86, for a total transaction of $417,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 253,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,059,333.96. The trade was a 5.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,344 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,731 in the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Norwegian Cruise Line

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line during the third quarter valued at about $3,821,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 1.5% during the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,544,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,678,000 after purchasing an additional 23,075 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,500,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,791,000 after purchasing an additional 94,178 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 1,104.7% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 178,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,663,000 after purchasing an additional 163,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $615,000. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by 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.