TD Ameritrade Chief Strategist: Priceline Gets Love In February

Priceline Group Inc PCLN, expected to post earnings before the bell Thursday, has seen little appreciation in its share price since its previous quarterly report, an analyst said.

"It's pretty flat. It's moved, but it's ending up in the same spot," JJ Kinahan told Benzinga Tuesday.

Kinahan, chief strategist for TD Ameritrade's operating unit, added that Priceline is "another stock that February has been very, very good to."

Priceline shares are up about 6 percent since around the time of its third-quarter earnings report in November. But since Februray 1, the stock has gained about 12 percent.

Much of those recent gains followed the February 12 announcement from Expedia Inc. EXPE that it will pay $1.34 billion to acquire Orbitz Worldwide Inc. OWW

Priceline in November forecast fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $9.40 and $10.10 a share.

Wall Street expects $10.10 a share on revenue of $1.8 billion when the company posts quarterly results Thursday.

Kinahan said that Priceline "should obviously be a nice options target because people would want to trade it."

But Kinahan added that "the option prices in real dollars are still pretty big numbers. So it's not a huge huge trader one way or another in terms of options."

Among 18 Wall Street analysts tracked by FactSet who follow Priceline, 15 maintain a Buy rating, one rates the shares Overweight and two maintain Hold ratings.

Priceline changed hands recently at $1,121.50.

Jake Mann and Brianna Valleskey contributed to this report.