Investors Purchase Large Volume of DHT Call Options (NYSE:DHT)

DHT Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DHT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 22,365 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 700% compared to the typical volume of 2,795 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DHT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of DHT during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in DHT by 101.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,714 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in DHT by 190.9% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,020 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,982 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in DHT by 91.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,334 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in DHT by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,159 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 2,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut DHT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of DHT in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of DHT from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of DHT in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on shares of DHT from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.33.

DHT Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of DHT opened at $16.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40 and a beta of -0.07. DHT has a one year low of $8.99 and a one year high of $16.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.47.

DHT (NYSE:DHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The shipping company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $117.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.96 million. DHT had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 42.35%.The business’s revenue was up 37.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that DHT will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DHT Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from DHT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.1%. DHT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.96%.

About DHT

DHT Holdings, Inc (NYSE: DHT) is a Bermuda-based independent crude oil tanker company that provides seaborne transportation of crude oil on a worldwide basis. The company’s core business involves the ownership and operation of a modern fleet of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and Suezmax tankers, which are chartered to oil producers, trading houses and national oil companies. Through spot charters, time-charters and tanker pooling arrangements, DHT connects crude oil exporters with refining hubs in Asia, Europe, North America and other global markets.

Founded in 2005 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange later that year, DHT has grown its presence in the maritime sector by focusing on operational efficiency and disciplined capital management.