Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $22.31, but opened at $23.19. Carnival shares last traded at $22.8640, with a volume of 6,845,231 shares trading hands.

Carnival News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Carnival this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Carnival to potentially exceed quarterly earnings estimates, supported by favorable earnings-related indicators. A consensus forecast calls for approximately $1.35 in EPS and $8.4 billion in revenue. Carnival Expected to Beat Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Value investors view CCL as inexpensive ahead of the report: its forward price-to-earnings ratio is about 10 times, below its roughly 13-times two-year average. Carnival Looks Cheap to Value Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Fuel-efficiency improvements and tighter cost controls could provide a lasting margin benefit, helping offset higher fuel costs and geopolitical uncertainty. Carnival Fuel Efficiency and Margin Improvement
• Positive Sentiment: Holland America Line, a Carnival brand, is upgrading Half Moon Cay with a new beach club, food pavilion, refreshed bars and upgraded cabanas. The enhancements could improve the guest experience across more than two dozen Caribbean itineraries, although the direct near-term financial effect is unclear. Holland America Line Half Moon Cay Improvements
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains broadly bullish ahead of the September 29 earnings release, although some analysts have reduced their price targets. Carnival Analyst Forecast Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the potential earnings beat and valuation appeal, CCL’s position below its key moving averages and near its one-year low signals continued technical weakness. Investors may also remain cautious until Carnival confirms results and forward guidance.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CCL. Freedom Capital raised shares of Carnival to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus set a $35.00 price target on shares of Carnival in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $32.00 target price on Carnival in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Carnival from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Carnival from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.47.

Carnival Trading Up 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 2.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.73 and a 200 day moving average of $26.49.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 23rd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.69 billion. Carnival had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 11.24%.Carnival’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Carnival Corporation will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Carnival Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Carnival’s payout ratio is 27.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCL. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Carnival by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,450,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $896,104,000 after purchasing an additional 683,311 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 26,729,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,320,000 after buying an additional 364,529 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Carnival by 5.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,904,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,372,000 after acquiring an additional 834,885 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Carnival by 2,432.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,689,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Carnival by 67.3% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 6,770,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,428,000 after acquiring an additional 2,723,171 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

About Carnival

Carnival Corporation & plc is a global leisure travel company that operates cruise lines and related vacation businesses. Its cruise brands serve travelers in North America, Europe, Australia, and other international markets, offering ocean voyages to destinations throughout the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Asia, Australia, and other regions.

The company’s brand portfolio includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises, and P&O Cruises Australia.