Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) stock is up 6.9% to trade at $22.97 at last glance, after The Wall Steet Journal reported that activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built an over 10% stake in the cruise name. The firm plans to push for improved performance and board changes, with Norwegian recently falling behind its competitors Carnival (CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL).
The shares are bouncing off the $21 level, which briefly acted as resistance in late January, while overhead pressure at $24 has kept a tight lid on price action so far this month. Longer term, NCLH carries a 12% year-over-year deficit.
Short interest is down 10.5% in the most recent reporting period. The 35.84 million shares sold short still make up 7.9% of the stock' s available float, though, meaning there's more pessimism left to unwind. Echoing this, 11 of the 23 firms in coverage carry a "hold" recommendation.
Options traders have been much bullish than usual. This is per Norwegian Cruise Line stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 4.62 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks higher than 86% of all other annual readings.
Bulls are doubling down today, with 15,000 calls exchanged so far -- triple the intraday average amount -- compared to just 4,459 puts. The most active contract by far is the February 25 call.
