State of Michigan Retirement System Purchases 6,800 Shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,944 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,800 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Carnival Co. & were worth $7,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 2.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 303,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,606,000 after buying an additional 6,672 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Carnival Co. & in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,140,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carnival Co. & in the third quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 3.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,161,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,463,000 after buying an additional 35,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Wealth Management Corp raised its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 3.8% in the third quarter. Aspire Wealth Management Corp now owns 27,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

Shares of Carnival Co. & stock opened at $20.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80. Carnival Co. & plc has a twelve month low of $13.78 and a twelve month high of $28.72. The stock has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.66. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.16 and its 200 day moving average is $22.64.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 20th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.06. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.13%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.07) earnings per share. Carnival Co. &’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CCL. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Carnival Co. & from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.11.

About Carnival Co. &

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.