StockNews.com Upgrades Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) to “Buy”

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. 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. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Carnival Co. & presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.89.

Carnival Co. & Trading Down 4.5 %

CCL stock opened at $19.85 on Thursday. Carnival Co. & has a 12 month low of $13.78 and a 12 month high of $28.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.79 and its 200 day moving average is $23.11. The company has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 21st. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.74 billion. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Carnival Co. & will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carnival Co. &

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,095,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,918,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,458,329 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 41,426,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,563,000 after buying an additional 2,301,906 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,228,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,256 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Carnival Co. & by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,850,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,423,000 after acquiring an additional 5,761,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Carnival Co. & by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,649,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,747,000 after acquiring an additional 877,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

Carnival Co. & 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.