Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Upgraded by Freedom Capital to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Freedom Capital upgraded Carnival to a “strong-buy” rating, adding to a generally positive analyst backdrop for the cruise operator.
• Despite some mixed price-target changes from other firms, Carnival’s overall analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $34.80.
• The stock was up 2.6% to $27.87 after the report, and the company recently beat quarterly estimates with $0.20 EPS on $6.17 billion in revenue.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Freedom Capital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

CCL has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Carnival from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Carnival from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Carnival from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. HSBC upgraded shares of Carnival from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $33.60 to $30.10 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Carnival in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.80.

Carnival Trading Up 2.6%

CCL stock opened at $27.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 2.32. Carnival has a one year low of $22.11 and a one year high of $34.03. The company's 50 day moving average price is $26.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 27th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.13 billion. Carnival had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 26.92%. The business's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Carnival will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carnival

In related news, insider Bettina Alejandra Deynes sold 43,058 shares of Carnival stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $1,209,929.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 69,238 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,587.80. The trade was a 38.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 11,988 shares of Carnival stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $313,965.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,620.19. This trade represents a 18.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,058 shares of company stock worth $1,524,195. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Carnival

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Carnival during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,291,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Carnival by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 519,939 shares of the company's stock worth $15,879,000 after purchasing an additional 47,070 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Carnival by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,133,282 shares of the company's stock worth $3,913,190,000 after purchasing an additional 368,445 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Carnival by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,774,765 shares of the company's stock worth $51,867,000 after purchasing an additional 93,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Carnival by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,126,893 shares of the company's stock worth $65,487,000 after purchasing an additional 637,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.19% of the company's stock.

About Carnival

Carnival Corporation NYSE: CCL is a global cruise operator that provides leisure travel services through a portfolio of passenger cruise brands. The company's core business is operating cruise ships that offer multi-night voyages and associated vacation services, including onboard accommodations, dining, entertainment, spa and wellness offerings, casinos, youth programs, and organized shore excursions. Carnival markets cruise vacations to a broad range of consumers, from value-focused travelers to premium and luxury segments, through differentiated brand positioning and onboard experiences.

Its operating structure comprises multiple well-known cruise brands that target distinct geographic and demographic markets.

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