Barclays upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal weight"
Barclays upgraded Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE:HLT) to "overweight" from "equal weight" this morning and raised its price target to $168 from $151. The analyst in question praised the company's ability to withstand macro challenges, noting that as an advantage over its peers.
The equity is up 1.3% ahead of the open to trade at $149.36. The $153 region capped the stock's rally in February, but the $144 level emerged as floor to contain that pullback. Since January, the 40-day moving average has supported the shares, helping to contribute to their 16.7% year-to-date lead.
Options traders have been firmly optimistic in the last 10 weeks, with 14.50 calls bought for every put at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). HLT's 50-day call/put volume ratio stands higher than all readings from the last 12 months, indicating long calls have been much more popular than usual.
Options may be a solid way to bet on
Hilton Hotels stock's next moves, as they are attractively priced at the moment. This is per HLT's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 25%, which ranks in the low 11th percentile of annual readings.