Board of the Pension Protection Fund Acquires New Position in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 29,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in Carnival in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Carnival during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Carnival in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Carnival by 1,125.0% in the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in Carnival in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CCL. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Carnival from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Carnival from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Carnival in a research report on Friday, April 25th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Carnival from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Carnival currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.33.

Carnival Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCL traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.31. The stock had a trading volume of 46,820,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,266,633. Carnival Corporation has a 1 year low of $13.78 and a 1 year high of $28.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.83. The company has a market capitalization of $31.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 2.58.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. Carnival had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 9.72%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carnival 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.