Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 2,311,868 Shares of Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Carnival Corporation by 476.6% in Q2, acquiring a total of 2,796,958 shares valued at approximately $78.65 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 67.19% of Carnival's stock, indicating strong interest in the company among major funds.
• Carnival reported a quarterly EPS of $0.35, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.24, alongside revenues of $6.33 billion for the same period.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 476.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,796,958 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,311,868 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.24% of Carnival worth $78,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Causeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Carnival during the 1st quarter valued at about $518,816,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Carnival during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $432,718,000. 59 North Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Carnival during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $69,303,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Carnival by 14,603.8% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,871,219 shares of the company's stock worth $56,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,851,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Carnival by 24.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,965,228 shares of the company's stock worth $253,211,000 after buying an additional 2,566,148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCL has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Carnival from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Carnival from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Melius Research increased their price objective on Carnival from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Carnival from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Carnival has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.84.

Carnival Price Performance

CCL traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.82. The stock had a trading volume of 14,507,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,908,760. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.43 and a 200-day moving average of $24.94. Carnival Corporation has a one year low of $15.07 and a one year high of $32.80. The stock has a market cap of $35.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 2.70. 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 (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.20 billion. Carnival had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 9.72%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 12,500 shares of Carnival stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $371,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 64,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,916,078.50. This trade represents a 16.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.