Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.18.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CCL. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Carnival Co. & from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho increased their price target on Carnival Co. & from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Insider Activity at Carnival Co. &

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total transaction of $380,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 65,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,937.08. This trade represents a 21.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carnival Co. &

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCL. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Carnival Co. & by 72.3% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,870,760 shares of the company's stock worth $53,052,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204,500 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,140,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,075,201 shares of the company's stock worth $75,310,000 after acquiring an additional 39,491 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Carnival Co. & by 10.1% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 264,728 shares of the company's stock worth $4,892,000 after acquiring an additional 24,198 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Carnival Co. & by 181.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 123,815 shares of the company's stock worth $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 79,857 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carnival Co. & Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of CCL traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,526,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,742,129. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62 and a beta of 2.64. The company's 50-day moving average is $24.93 and its 200-day moving average is $20.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. Carnival Co. & has a 52-week low of $13.78 and a 52-week high of $27.17.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, December 20th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.94 billion. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 6.39%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.07) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Carnival Co. & will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carnival Co. & Company Profile

Carnival Corporation & plc engages in the provision of leisure travel services in North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: NAA Cruise Operations, Europe Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Other. It operates port destinations, private islands, and a solar park, as well as owns and operates hotels, lodges, glass-domed railcars, and motor coaches.