Morgan Stanley Raises Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Price Target to $24.00

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $21.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would indicate a potential downside of 6.20% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Carnival in a report on Monday. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating on shares of Carnival in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Carnival in a research note on Monday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.84.

Carnival Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:CCL traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $25.59. The company had a trading volume of 4,701,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,483,207. Carnival has a 12-month low of $13.78 and a 12-month high of $28.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 0.57 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. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $21.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.83.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Carnival had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Carnival will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Carnival in the 4th quarter valued at $59,486,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,249,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,745,000 after acquiring an additional 223,195 shares in the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carnival during the fourth quarter worth about $5,715,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 19,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Carnival in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company's stock.

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.

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