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

DHT Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DHT) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 52,651 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 280% compared to the typical daily volume of 13,866 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of DHT in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen cut DHT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 25th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of DHT from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Dnb Carnegie lowered shares of DHT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.33.

DHT Trading Down 3.2%

NYSE DHT traded down $0.60 on Friday, reaching $17.94. The company had a trading volume of 4,627,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,939,981. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68 and a beta of -0.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.82 and its 200-day moving average is $13.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. DHT has a 52 week low of $8.99 and a 52 week high of $20.55.

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

DHT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is an increase from DHT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. DHT’s payout ratio is 125.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DHT

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DHT. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in DHT by 101.6% during 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 in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of DHT by 190.9% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,020 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of DHT by 91.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,334 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in DHT by 568.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,554 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 3,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of DHT by 96.5% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,159 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.53% of the company’s stock.

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.