Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) Shares Bought by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) by 33.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,725 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,160 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Carnival Co. & were worth $616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Carnival Co. & in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 275.8% during the 4th quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & by 1,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Carnival Co. & during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Carnival Co. & during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 67.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Carnival Co. & from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.11.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

NYSE CCL opened at $24.54 on Friday. Carnival Co. & plc has a 1-year low of $13.78 and a 1-year high of $28.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.64.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, December 20th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.94 billion. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 24.13% and a net margin of 7.66%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.07) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

About Carnival Co. &

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.