QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 42.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 925,222 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 274,026 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. owned 0.08% of Carnival Co. & worth $18,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 50.1% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 554,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,824,000 after buying an additional 184,949 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Carnival Co. & in the 1st quarter worth $240,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & by 12.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 151,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,953,000 after purchasing an additional 16,391 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 1.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 55,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 4.7% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 485,090 shares of the company's stock worth $9,474,000 after purchasing an additional 21,817 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CCL. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Carnival Co. & in a research note on Friday, April 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised Carnival Co. & from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Carnival Co. & from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a report on Monday, March 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Carnival Co. & presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.58.

Carnival Co. & Price Performance

NYSE CCL traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $23.83. 32,949,812 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,420,216. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.90. Carnival Co. & plc has a 1 year low of $13.78 and a 1 year high of $28.72. The company has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.58.

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

Carnival Co. & 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.