Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stake in Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management massively increased its Carnival stake in Q4, boosting holdings by 1,621.9% to 1.14 million shares worth about $34.7 million.
• Carnival reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.20 versus estimates of $0.18 and revenue of $6.17 billion, up 6.1% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $34.18.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 1,621.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,136,417 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,070,419 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned about 0.10% of Carnival worth $34,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Carnival in the third quarter valued at $1,291,000. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Carnival by 10.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,795,560 shares of the company's stock worth $80,820,000 after acquiring an additional 272,452 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Carnival by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,133,282 shares of the company's stock worth $3,913,190,000 after acquiring an additional 368,445 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Carnival by 5.6% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,774,765 shares of the company's stock worth $51,867,000 after acquiring an additional 93,565 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Carnival by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,126,893 shares of the company's stock worth $65,487,000 after purchasing an additional 637,605 shares during the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carnival Stock Performance

NYSE:CCL opened at $24.93 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $30.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.09. Carnival Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $21.62 and a fifty-two week high of $34.03.

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

Carnival Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Carnival's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CCL shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Carnival from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Carnival from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Carnival from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Carnival from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Carnival from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carnival

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 11,988 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $313,965.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,377,620.19. This trade represents a 18.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $314,265. Company insiders own 7.90% of the company's stock.

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.

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