Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $28.73 and last traded at $28.48, with a volume of 1003643 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.44.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NCLH. Citigroup upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $19.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norwegian Cruise Line has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.27.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 2.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.48 and its 200-day moving average is $22.61.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.05. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 99.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $1,046,791.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 116,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,174,171. The trade was a 24.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Kempa sold 15,000 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 253,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,059,333.96. This trade represents a 5.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,344 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,731 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Norwegian Cruise Line

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 192.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 489.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is currently 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.