Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Norwegian Cruise Line Call Options (NYSE:NCLH)

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 53,191 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 94% compared to the typical daily volume of 27,450 call options.

Institutional Trading of Norwegian Cruise Line

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 1st quarter valued at about $895,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,536,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,136,000 after acquiring an additional 92,772 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc grew its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 33,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 3,937 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 37,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 10,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 1st quarter valued at about $301,000. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE NCLH opened at $21.95 on Friday. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 52 week low of $14.21 and a 52 week high of $29.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.36. The firm has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 2.13.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a return on equity of 66.78% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NCLH. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $27.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Norwegian Cruise Line from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Norwegian Cruise Line currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.84.

Norwegian Cruise Line Company 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.