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

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 30,392 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 29% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,470 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on NCLH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Norwegian Cruise Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus raised Norwegian Cruise Line from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $19.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $21.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.27.

Insider Activity at Norwegian Cruise Line

In related news, CAO Faye L. Ashby sold 38,344 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,174,171. This trade represents a 24.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrea Demarco sold 29,000 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 97,304 shares in the company, valued at $2,701,159.04. The trade was a 22.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norwegian Cruise Line

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NCLH. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 5.8% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 13.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 148,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,793,000 after purchasing an additional 18,167 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 72,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 8,858 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. bought a new position in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $962,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 371.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 439,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,234,000 after buying an additional 346,471 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Up 7.7 %

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock opened at $28.43 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.35. The firm has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 2.64. Norwegian Cruise Line has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $28.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.55.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a return on equity of 99.31% and a net margin of 5.87%. Norwegian Cruise Line’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.