Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $28.83 and last traded at $28.42, with a volume of 8613042 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCL has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC raised Carnival from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Carnival in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Carnival from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Carnival from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Carnival from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carnival has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.53.

Carnival Trading Up 2.0%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 2.58.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. Carnival had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 27.88%. Carnival’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Carnival during the first quarter worth about $518,816,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Carnival during the first quarter valued at $432,718,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carnival by 186.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,898,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,681,000 after purchasing an additional 6,444,444 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Carnival by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,850,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,423,000 after buying an additional 5,761,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Carnival by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,095,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,918,022,000 after buying an additional 4,458,329 shares during the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Carnival

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.