Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Upgraded to “Buy” at The Goldman Sachs Group

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) was upgraded by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $35.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $29.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 27.32% from the company’s previous close.

NCLH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Argus raised shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Norwegian Cruise Line from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norwegian Cruise Line presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.67.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

Shares of NCLH stock opened at $27.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 2.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.55. Norwegian Cruise Line has a one year low of $14.69 and a one year high of $28.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Norwegian Cruise Line

In related news, CFO Mark Kempa sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.86, for a total value of $417,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 253,386 shares in the company, valued at $7,059,333.96. This trade represents a 5.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value 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. The trade was a 24.80 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norwegian Cruise Line

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $179,146,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 864.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,864,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464,100 shares during the period. Columbus Hill Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line during the second quarter valued at $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 purchasing an additional 1,129,770 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line in the second quarter valued at $15,213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.58% of the company’s stock.

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.