Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Makes New $43.96 Million Investment in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,708,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,956,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.39% of Norwegian Cruise Line as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line during the fourth quarter worth approximately $416,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line during the fourth quarter worth approximately $788,000. Cooper Financial Group bought a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 14,653 shares of the company's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,338 shares of the company's stock worth $2,453,000 after buying an additional 5,769 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.20. 9,162,743 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,033,445. The company has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 2.64. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $26.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.20. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has a 52 week low of $14.69 and a 52 week high of $28.64.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 99.31%. Norwegian Cruise Line's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NCLH. Barclays upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $19.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrea Demarco sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $805,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,701,159.04. This trade represents a 22.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $1,046,791.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 116,270 shares in the company, valued at $3,174,171. The trade was a 24.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,344 shares of company stock worth $2,269,731. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Norwegian Cruise Line 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.