Norwegian Cruise Line Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NCLH)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 28,690 call options on Friday—about a 39% increase versus typical daily call volume—indicating elevated bullish interest in NCLH.
• Insider buying: Insiders increased stakes recently, with Jason Montague purchasing 13,400 shares at $18.81 and director Harry C. Curtis buying 5,000 shares; insiders acquired 90,029 shares over the past three months.
• Mixed analyst views but overall sentiment remains a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $28.11; the stock trades around $20.94 after a slight quarterly EPS beat and FY2025 guidance.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 28,690 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 39% compared to the typical daily volume of 20,640 call options.

Insider Transactions at Norwegian Cruise Line

In other Norwegian Cruise Line news, insider Jason Montague bought 13,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.81 per share, for a total transaction of $252,054.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $252,054. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Harry C. Curtis acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.25 per share, with a total value of $96,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 50,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at $968,756.25. This trade represents a 11.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 90,029 shares of company stock valued at $1,663,575. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Norwegian Cruise Line

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NCLH. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Norwegian Cruise Line by 0.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,581,365 shares of the company's stock worth $67,903,000 after buying an additional 33,549 shares during the period. LBP AM SA lifted its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 138.1% in the 2nd quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 452,917 shares of the company's stock worth $9,185,000 after acquiring an additional 262,714 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 3,997,792 shares of the company's stock worth $80,908,000 after acquiring an additional 771,955 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,407,000. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its holdings in Norwegian Cruise Line by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 55,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 14,486 shares during the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NCLH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Norwegian Cruise Line from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on Norwegian Cruise Line from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Norwegian Cruise Line from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norwegian Cruise Line presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.11.

Norwegian Cruise Line Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NCLH traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.94. 9,866,124 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,805,605. The business's 50-day moving average price is $20.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.99. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 1 year low of $14.21 and a 1 year high of $29.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.22.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.03. Norwegian Cruise Line had a return on equity of 55.51% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.270-0.270 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 2.100-2.100 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.