Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Holdings in Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Carnival stake by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 175,637 shares and ending with 5.3 million shares valued at about $161.9 million.
• Carnival reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.20 per share on revenue of $6.17 billion, while revenue rose 6.1% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $34.13.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,300,704 shares of the company's stock after selling 175,637 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.45% of Carnival worth $161,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Carnival by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,170 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Carnival by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 519,939 shares of the company's stock worth $15,879,000 after purchasing an additional 47,070 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC increased its position in shares of Carnival by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 14,905 shares of the company's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Carnival in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in shares of Carnival by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 29,946 shares of the company's stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Carnival

In other news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 11,988 shares of Carnival stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total value of $313,965.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,377,620.19. The trade was a 18.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $314,265. Insiders own 7.90% of the company's stock.

Carnival Trading Up 4.8%

NYSE CCL opened at $27.99 on Thursday. Carnival Corporation has a one year low of $22.11 and a one year high of $34.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.33.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 27th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.02. Carnival had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 26.92%. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Carnival Corporation will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Carnival Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Carnival's payout ratio is 26.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Carnival from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. HSBC raised shares of Carnival from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $33.60 to $30.10 in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Carnival from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Carnival from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Carnival from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.13.

Carnival Profile

Carnival Corporation NYSE: CCL is a global cruise operator that provides leisure travel services through a portfolio of passenger cruise brands. The company's core business is operating cruise ships that offer multi-night voyages and associated vacation services, including onboard accommodations, dining, entertainment, spa and wellness offerings, casinos, youth programs, and organized shore excursions. Carnival markets cruise vacations to a broad range of consumers, from value-focused travelers to premium and luxury segments, through differentiated brand positioning and onboard experiences.

Its operating structure comprises multiple well-known cruise brands that target distinct geographic and demographic markets.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.