Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on DHT (NYSE:DHT)

DHT Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DHT) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 60,120 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,058% compared to the average daily volume of 5,192 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of DHT from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded DHT from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised DHT from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Evercore cut shares of DHT from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.33.

DHT Price Performance

Shares of DHT stock traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $19.50. 3,291,919 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,735,000. DHT has a 12-month low of $10.69 and a 12-month high of $20.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63 and a beta of -0.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.55.

DHT (NYSE:DHT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $247.17 million. DHT had a net margin of 65.52% and a return on equity of 39.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 174.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share.

DHT Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 25.0%. This is an increase from DHT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. DHT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other DHT news, Director Jeremy Kramer sold 29,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.65, for a total transaction of $555,695.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 71,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,330,341.80. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DHT

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DHT. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new position in shares of DHT during the 2nd quarter valued at about $475,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in DHT by 117.9% in the 2nd quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 25,394 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 13,738 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in DHT by 7.4% in the second quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,843 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in DHT by 53.7% in the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 15,750 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norris Financial Group LLC bought a new position in DHT during the first quarter valued at approximately $316,000. 58.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.