Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Shares Up 2.5% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) traded up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $19.12 and last traded at $18.99. 2,732,002 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 11,467,764 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NCLH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays raised Norwegian Cruise Line from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.19.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 2.62. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $25.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norwegian Cruise Line

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 55,194,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,557,951 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,307,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,371,596,000 after purchasing an additional 277,360 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 4.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,241,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,613,000 after purchasing an additional 621,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,793,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,399,000 after purchasing an additional 270,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 99.0% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,689,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,843,000 after buying an additional 3,824,600 shares during the period. 69.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.