Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $353,000 in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 14,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Carnival Co. & by 275.8% during the 4th quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Carnival Co. & during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Carnival Co. & in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Carnival Co. & in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CCL. Hsbc Global Res raised Carnival Co. & from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Carnival Co. & from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Carnival Co. & currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.53.

Carnival Co. & Price Performance

Shares of CCL stock traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.89. 18,766,601 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,019,043. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.05. The firm has a market cap of $26.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Carnival Co. & plc has a 1-year low of $13.78 and a 1-year high of $28.72.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 21st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.11. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 24.13% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm had revenue of $5.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) earnings per share. Carnival Co. &'s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Carnival Co. &

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.