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

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 30,392 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 29% compared to the typical volume of 23,470 call options.

Norwegian Cruise Line Trading Down 2.6 %

NCLH stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.32. 7,057,183 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,870,412. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 2.64. 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 has a one year low of $14.69 and a one year high of $29.29.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.05. Norwegian Cruise Line had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 99.31%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Norwegian Cruise Line

In other news, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $1,046,791.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 116,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,174,171. This trade represents a 24.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrea Demarco sold 29,000 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 22.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,344 shares of company stock worth $2,269,731. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norwegian Cruise Line

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,241,984 shares of the company's stock worth $312,613,000 after purchasing an additional 621,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,522,834 shares of the company's stock worth $215,481,000 after buying an additional 261,925 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 3rd quarter worth about $179,146,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 864.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,864,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,263,000 after buying an additional 3,464,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,500,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,791,000 after buying an additional 94,178 shares during the period. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NCLH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $19.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $19.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.27.

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.