Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $150.57 Million Stock Position in Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital increased its Carnival stake by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 872,127 shares to reach 4.93 million shares worth about $150.6 million.
• Wall Street remains generally upbeat on Carnival, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a consensus price target of $34.85 after several firms either raised targets or reiterated buy ratings.
• Carnival reported solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.20 versus estimates of $0.18 and revenue of $6.17 billion, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,930,139 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 872,127 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.40% of Carnival worth $150,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Carnival in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,291,000. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Carnival by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 519,939 shares of the company's stock worth $15,879,000 after buying an additional 47,070 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Carnival by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,133,282 shares of the company's stock worth $3,913,190,000 after buying an additional 368,445 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Carnival by 5.6% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,774,765 shares of the company's stock worth $51,867,000 after buying an additional 93,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Carnival by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,126,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,487,000 after buying an additional 637,605 shares during the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CCL. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Carnival from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Carnival from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. HSBC upgraded shares of Carnival from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $33.60 to $30.10 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Carnival from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.85.

Insider Transactions at Carnival

In related news, insider Bettina Alejandra Deynes sold 43,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 69,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,945,587.80. This represents a 38.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 11,988 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 52,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,620.19. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,058 shares of company stock worth $1,524,195. 7.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Carnival Stock Performance

Shares of CCL stock opened at $30.10 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.18. Carnival Corporation has a one year low of $22.58 and a one year high of $34.03. The stock has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 27th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.02. Carnival had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 26.92%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. Carnival's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Carnival Corporation will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Carnival Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Carnival's payout ratio is presently 26.67%.

Carnival Profile

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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