Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $35.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Norwegian Cruise Line traded as high as $28.64 and last traded at $27.97, with a volume of 4828345 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.89.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 116,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,174,171. This trade represents a 24.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrea Demarco sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $805,040.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,304 shares in the company, valued at $2,701,159.04. This trade represents a 22.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 82,344 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,731. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Norwegian Cruise Line

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 88,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,072 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 7.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 1,890 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 6.7% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 57,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,522,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,481,000 after acquiring an additional 261,925 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.95. The firm has a market cap of $12.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 2.67.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a return on equity of 99.31% and a net margin of 5.87%. Norwegian Cruise Line’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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.