Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $25.18, but opened at $25.78. Carnival Co. & shares last traded at $26.08, with a volume of 9,045,210 shares traded.

The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.07) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Carnival Co. & from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Macquarie upped their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $20.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Carnival Co. & in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carnival Co. & has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total value of $380,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 65,789 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,937.08. This represents a 21.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Carnival Co. &

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCL. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & during the second quarter worth approximately $466,838,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & by 510.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 10,331,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,638,865 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 8,431.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 6,644,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,781,000 after purchasing an additional 6,566,120 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 43.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,585,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,435,000 after buying an additional 2,911,100 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Carnival Co. & by 2,400.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,010,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,280,000 after buying an additional 2,889,785 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $29.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00 and a beta of 2.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.42. 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. & 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.