Norwegian Cruise Line Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NCLH)

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 39,002 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 33% compared to the average volume of 29,364 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $23.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a report on Friday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Norwegian Cruise Line currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.87.

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

NCLH stock opened at $16.08 on Thursday. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 52-week low of $12.70 and a 52-week high of $22.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.43, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 2.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.47.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 108.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.10) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NCLH. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,049,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,143,285,000 after purchasing an additional 26,676,150 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in the fourth quarter worth about $83,243,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 22.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,197,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,622 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 58.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,105,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,086 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,697,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $819,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,053 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.