Caxton Associates LP Invests $1.58 Million in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 63,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,584,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 175,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 153.4% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 336,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,386,000 after buying an additional 203,710 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Carnival Co. & by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 86,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,164,000 after buying an additional 18,269 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 40,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 14,165 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Carnival Co. & during the fourth quarter valued at $59,486,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CCL shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Carnival Co. & from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on Carnival Co. & from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Carnival Co. & from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Carnival Co. & in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.53.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCL opened at $19.57 on Tuesday. Carnival Co. & plc has a 1-year low of $13.78 and a 1-year high of $28.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.50. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 21st. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.11. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.13%. The business had revenue of $5.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.14) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.