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

Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) gapped up prior to trading 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 trading hands.

The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.06. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 6.39%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.07) EPS. Carnival Co. &’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CCL. Truist Financial increased 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Carnival Co. & from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho lifted their price objective 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, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Carnival Co. & from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 21.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Carnival Co. & during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Carnival Co. & during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Carnival Co. & by 1,431.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 163.9% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carnival Co. & Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.73 billion, a PE 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.

About Carnival Co. &

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.