Night Squared LP Acquires New Shares in Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• Night Squared LP acquired 195,456 shares of Carnival Corporation, valued at approximately $3.82 million, making it the fund's 22nd largest holding.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Carnival in recent months, with hedge funds owning 67.19% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have generally favorable ratings on Carnival, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $30.71, along with recent earnings that exceeded expectations.

Night Squared LP acquired a new position in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 195,456 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,817,000. Carnival comprises approximately 2.3% of Night Squared LP's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Carnival by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,505,754 shares of the company's stock worth $2,333,947,000 after buying an additional 2,410,188 shares in the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Carnival during the 1st quarter worth about $518,816,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Carnival by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,850,042 shares of the company's stock valued at $569,423,000 after purchasing an additional 5,761,489 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Carnival during the 1st quarter worth $432,718,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Carnival by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,965,228 shares of the company's stock worth $253,211,000 after acquiring an additional 2,566,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Carnival Stock Performance

CCL traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $31.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,015,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,308,396. Carnival Corporation has a 52 week low of $15.07 and a 52 week high of $32.77. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.63 and its 200-day moving average is $24.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $36.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.70.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Carnival has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.970-1.970 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.300-1.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Carnival news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $371,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 64,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,916,078.50. This trade represents a 16.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CCL. Zacks Research cut Carnival from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Carnival from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Carnival from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Macquarie cut their price objective on Carnival from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Carnival in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.71.

Carnival Company 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.