National CineMedia, Inc. (NCMI) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 24th

National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) announced a — dividend on Monday, March 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a dividend of 0.03 per share by the business services provider on Monday, April 7th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th.

National CineMedia has a dividend payout ratio of 63.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect National CineMedia to earn $0.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.1%.

National CineMedia Price Performance

Shares of NCMI opened at $5.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.74. National CineMedia has a fifty-two week low of $4.12 and a fifty-two week high of $7.60. The stock has a market cap of $547.46 million, a PE ratio of -23.00 and a beta of 2.19.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. National CineMedia had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 2.61%. The company had revenue of $86.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.77 million. Analysts anticipate that National CineMedia will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at National CineMedia

In other news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 23,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.51, for a total transaction of $154,560.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,085.37. This represents a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd acquired 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,536,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,250,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,483,691.52. This represents a 3.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wedbush upgraded National CineMedia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of National CineMedia in a report on Friday, March 7th. William Blair reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of National CineMedia in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of National CineMedia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.70.

About National CineMedia

National CineMedia, Inc, through its subsidiary, National CineMedia, LLC, operates cinema advertising network in North America. It engages in the sale of advertising to national, regional, and local businesses in Noovie, a cinema advertising and entertainment show seen on movie screens; and sells advertising on its Lobby Entertainment Network, a series of strategically-placed screens located in movie theater lobbies, as well as other forms of advertising and promotions in theatre lobbies.