Rafferty Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Carnival Corporation by 20.8%, selling 23,992 shares, leaving it with 91,287 shares valued at approximately $1.78 million.
• Carnival's stock is currently down by 1.8%, with a recent trading price of $31.90, and its market cap stands at $37.24 billion.
• Recent earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, with Carnival reporting $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter and a revenue of $6.33 billion, up 9.5% from the previous year.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 20.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,287 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,992 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Carnival were worth $1,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCL. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carnival during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Carnival during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in Carnival in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Carnival in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Carnival in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Carnival Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCL traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.58. The company had a trading volume of 6,839,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,209,615. Carnival Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $15.07 and a fifty-two week high of $32.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $29.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, 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 data 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 firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. Carnival had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 27.88%. Carnival's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Carnival from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Carnival from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. TD Cowen started coverage on Carnival in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Carnival from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total value of $371,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 64,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,916,078.50. This trade represents a 16.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.