Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Price Target Raised to $17.50 at Morgan Stanley

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $16.50 to $17.50 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.98% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NCLH. Citigroup upped their price target on Norwegian Cruise Line from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Macquarie upped their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norwegian Cruise Line presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.38.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Down 1.8 %

NCLH stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.22. 7,832,477 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,053,595. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 2.69. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 52-week low of $12.70 and a 52-week high of $21.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.19.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. Norwegian Cruise Line had a return on equity of 105.44% and a net margin of 4.62%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Zillah Byng-Thorne bought 13,360 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.50 per share, with a total value of $220,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 13,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $220,440. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norwegian Cruise Line

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 875.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 122,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,563,000 after acquiring an additional 109,892 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 201,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 10,174 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 58.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,105,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 1st quarter worth about $87,000. 69.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.