Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Purchases 95,446 Shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its stake in Carnival Corporation by 500.5%, acquiring an additional 95,446 shares, bringing its total holdings to 114,516 shares valued at approximately $2.27 million.
• Carnival recently reported earnings of $0.35 per share, surpassing estimates and achieving a revenue of $6.33 billion, which marks a 9.5% year-over-year increase.
• Analysts are optimistic about Carnival, with consensus ratings showing 14 buy ratings compared to 7 hold ratings, and an average target price of $30.71.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its position in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 500.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,516 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 95,446 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Carnival were worth $2,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Carnival by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 54,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Carnival by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 730,544 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,205,000 after purchasing an additional 72,701 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Carnival by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 21,899 shares of the company's stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Carnival in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,486,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Carnival by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 312,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,791,000 after purchasing an additional 17,311 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CCL. HSBC raised Carnival from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised Carnival from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Carnival from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Macquarie reduced their target price on Carnival from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Carnival from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.71.

Carnival Trading Down 3.0%

Carnival stock traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.89. 17,653,557 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,415,594. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 2.61. Carnival Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.78 and a fifty-two week high of $31.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $26.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.55.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. Carnival had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 9.72%. The firm's revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

About Carnival

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.