Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Shares Gap Up – Time to 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Macquarie raised their price target on Norwegian Cruise Line from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upgraded Norwegian Cruise Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.27.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 2.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35.

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

Insider Activity

In other Norwegian Cruise Line news, CFO Mark Kempa sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.86, for a total transaction of $417,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 253,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,059,333.96. This trade represents a 5.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 116,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,174,171. This represents a 24.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,344 shares of company stock worth $2,269,731. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line in the third quarter valued at about $179,146,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 864.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,864,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,263,000 after buying an additional 3,464,100 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Hill Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,479,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 32.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,568,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,213,000. 69.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Norwegian Cruise Line

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.