National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) to Issue — Dividend of $0.03

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 paid a dividend of 0.03 per share by the business services provider on Monday, April 7th. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th.

National CineMedia has a dividend payout ratio of 63.2% meaning 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 Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NCMI stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $5.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 617,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 649,020. National CineMedia has a 52 week low of $4.12 and a 52 week high of $7.60. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.75. The company has a market cap of $558.41 million, a PE ratio of -23.66 and a beta of 2.19.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The business services provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.77 million. National CineMedia had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 2.61%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that National CineMedia will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other National CineMedia news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 23,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.51, for a total value of $154,560.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,987 shares in the company, valued at $436,085.37. The trade was a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Blantyre Capital Ltd purchased 103,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.18 per share, with a total value of $537,088.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 10,310,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,408,042.94. This trade represents a 1.02 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

National CineMedia Company Profile

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.