Portland Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 20,000 Shares of Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• Portland Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Carnival Corporation by 22.1%, now owning 110,702 shares, valued at $2,162,000, making Carnival its 14th largest position.
• Several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Nuveen Asset Management LLC, have also increased their stakes in Carnival, reflecting strong institutional interest as they own 67.19% of the company's stock.
• Carnival reported a 9.5% revenue increase year-over-year with earnings per share of $0.35, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.24, indicating a positive growth trajectory.

Portland Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 22.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,702 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Carnival accounts for approximately 0.7% of Portland Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Portland Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Carnival were worth $2,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CCL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Carnival during the first quarter worth $432,718,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Carnival by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,850,042 shares of the company's stock worth $569,423,000 after purchasing an additional 5,761,489 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Carnival in the fourth quarter worth $100,845,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Carnival by 228.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,689,305 shares of the company's stock worth $116,857,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263,204 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Carnival by 9,220.3% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 3,297,434 shares of the company's stock worth $82,172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,262,055 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Carnival Price Performance

Carnival stock traded up $2.0180 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.2880. The stock had a trading volume of 27,173,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,325,514. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The firm's 50 day moving average is $28.53 and its 200 day moving average is $23.87. Carnival Corporation has a one year low of $15.07 and a one year high of $31.38.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.11. Carnival had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. Carnival's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Carnival has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.970-1.970 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.300-1.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Carnival

In other Carnival news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 64,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,916,078.50. This represents a 16.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CCL. Barclays increased their target price on Carnival from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Carnival from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Carnival from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carnival currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.71.

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.