DHT rises 4.3% after booking $509,100 spot rates

DHT Holdings rose 4.3% to $25.70 in Monday premarket trading after an Oct. 12 business update showed fourth-quarter 2026 spot bookings averaging $509,100 a day.

In the same business update, DHT put third-quarter time-charter-equivalent earnings, a daily revenue metric for shipping assets, at $141,300 across 2,055 revenue days, underscoring the scale of the rate improvement.

Bookings drive move

DHT said roughly half of its fourth-quarter 2026 spot-market availability has been fixed at the $509,100 daily average. Across spot and time-charter exposure, the company said about 78% of fourth-quarter revenue days are booked at an estimated $225,200 a day.

For the third quarter, DHT said spot-market Very Large Crude Carriers, the largest class of crude tankers, earned an estimated $167,100 a day. Ships under time-charter contracts averaged $114,200 a day, while 1,054 of the quarter’s 2,055 revenue days were spot days.

The split matters because tanker companies can be exposed to market rates through spot voyages or lock in revenue under time charters. DHT’s update points to sharply higher rates on the portion of the fourth quarter already fixed, while leaving the rest dependent on contracts not covered in the update.

Stock outruns targets

Benzinga’s technical snapshot showed DHT at $25.78, 12.9% above its 20-day simple moving average of $22.84 and 44.5% above its 200-day average of $17.84. A simple moving average tracks the average closing price over a set period and is commonly used to gauge trend direction.

The same snapshot put DHT’s relative strength index at 71.16. RSI is a momentum gauge on a 0-to-100 scale, and readings above 70 are often treated by traders as a sign that a stock may be extended. Benzinga listed $20.50 as a support level if the move weakens.

The rally has pushed the shares above the average analyst price target cited by Benzinga. DHT had a Buy consensus rating and an average target of $23.50, while the stock traded at $25.70 in premarket activity. Benzinga also listed a price-to-earnings ratio, a valuation measure comparing share price with earnings, of 8.4 times.

Recent analyst actions were not uniform. Benzinga said BTIG kept a Buy rating and lifted its target to $28 on Sept. 18.

It also said Evercore ISI Group cut DHT to In-Line and lowered its target to $19 on April 22, the same day BTIG raised its target to $23 with a Buy rating.

Benzinga Edge scores showed momentum as DHT’s strongest factor, at 96.61. The service gave the stock a growth score of 76.16 and a value score of 68.14, presenting a profile led more by price action and growth screening than by valuation.

ETF ownership gives DHT some passive-market exposure. Benzinga listed the U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF with a 5.34% weighting, the Invesco Oil and Gas Services ETF with 3.33% and the Bushido Capital US SMID Cap Equity ETF with 1.36%.

What to watch

DHT’s next earnings report is estimated for Oct. 28. Benzinga cited an earnings-per-share estimate of 99 cents, compared with 28 cents a year earlier, giving investors a test of how much of the rate strength is flowing through to profit.

The same Oct. 28 report is expected to show revenue of $216.27 million, versus $79.10 million a year earlier, according to Benzinga. The comparison will be the next dated check on whether stronger bookings translate into reported sales.

Source: trade-press article, Benzinga, Oct. 12, 2026