The travel stock earned a price-target hike to $148 from $108 this morning
The shares of Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) are down 1.1% at $130.99 at last check, despite receiving a price-target hike from Deutsche Bank to $148 from $108 this morning. While travel in the first half of 2021 could be tougher due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases globally, the analyst in coverage has higher estimates for the second half of the year, thanks to highly efficient vaccines approved in the U.S. and Europe.
Meanwhile, the majority of analysts were hesitant toward the security coming into today, with 15 of the 21 in question carrying a tepid "hold" rating. Plus, the stock's 12-month consensus price target of $117.90 is a 10.3% discount to current levels. In other words, EXPE could see more price-target hikes going forward.
Expedia stock seems to have left most of its woes behind in 2020. Today's bull note pushed the security to a two-year high of $135.87, though the stock had already been climbing up the charts since dropping to a March 18, eight-year low of $40.76. Shares can thank an early November bull gap for those higher levels, as well as the 40-day moving average. In the last nine months alone, EXPE has tacked on no less than 148.2%.
An unwinding of pessimism in the options could push the equity higher, too. Short interest rose 10.3% in the most recent reporting period, and the 16.55 million shares sold short make up a hefty 14% of the stock's available float, or more than a week's worth of pent-up buying power.
The options pits lean more optimistic, however, with calls popular. This is per the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 3.09 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits higher than 77% of readings from the past year. In simpler terms, there is a healthier-than-usual appetite for long calls of late.
Now seems like an opportune time to weigh in on EXPE's next move with options. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 41% sits in the extremely low 8th percentile of its annual range, meaning the equity sports attractively priced premiums at the moment.