Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 12.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 151,216 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,391 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Carnival were worth $2,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Carnival during the fourth quarter worth about $59,486,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Carnival by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,249,810 shares of the company's stock worth $155,745,000 after acquiring an additional 223,195 shares during the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC bought a new position in shares of Carnival during the fourth quarter worth about $5,715,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Carnival by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,841,543 shares of the company's stock worth $145,571,000 after acquiring an additional 19,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Carnival during the fourth quarter worth about $5,113,000. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Carnival Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of NYSE:CCL traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.31. 46,820,661 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,179,018. The stock has a market cap of $31.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Carnival Corporation has a 12-month low of $13.78 and a 12-month high of $28.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.82.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.11. The company 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%. Carnival's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CCL. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating on shares of Carnival in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on Carnival from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Carnival in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Carnival in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Carnival from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carnival has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.53.

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.