Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Position in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,190 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Carnival were worth $5,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Carnival in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,486,000. Beck Bode LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carnival in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,715,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Carnival in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,113,000. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in shares of Carnival by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,090,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,185,000 after buying an additional 293,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Carnival in the 4th quarter worth approximately $767,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

Carnival Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of CCL stock opened at $29.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.34. Carnival Corporation has a 52-week low of $13.78 and a 52-week high of $30.46. The company has a market capitalization of $34.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.56 and its 200 day moving average is $23.06.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. Carnival had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CCL. HSBC upgraded Carnival from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Macquarie dropped their price objective on Carnival from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Carnival in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Carnival in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Carnival from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.65.

Carnival Company Profile

Carnival Corp. engages in the operation of cruise ships. It operates through the following business segments: North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise, Europe and Asia (EA) Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Others. The North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise segment includes the Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.