William John Sempolinski Purchases New Stake in Carnival Corporation $CCL

William John Sempolinski acquired a new position in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 30,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Carnival by 2,954.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 19,851,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,625,000 after purchasing an additional 19,201,000 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of Carnival in the 4th quarter valued at about $429,448,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Carnival by 2,432.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,689,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,311,000 after buying an additional 6,425,822 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Carnival by 99.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,159,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,535,000 after buying an additional 6,066,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Carnival by 1,619.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,132,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,740,000 after acquiring an additional 4,833,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CCL. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Carnival from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Carnival in a report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Melius Research set a $36.00 price target on Carnival in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Freedom Capital upgraded Carnival to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Carnival from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.08.

Carnival Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CCL stock opened at $23.52 on Friday. Carnival Corporation has a 1 year low of $23.08 and a 1 year high of $34.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 2.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 23rd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Carnival had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 26.11%. The firm had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Carnival’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Carnival has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.220-2.220 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Carnival Corporation will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Carnival Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Carnival’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.03%.

About Carnival

Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) is a global cruise operator that provides leisure travel services through a portfolio of passenger cruise brands. The company’s core business is operating cruise ships that offer multi-night voyages and associated vacation services, including onboard accommodations, dining, entertainment, spa and wellness offerings, casinos, youth programs, and organized shore excursions. Carnival markets cruise vacations to a broad range of consumers, from value-focused travelers to premium and luxury segments, through differentiated brand positioning and onboard experiences.

Its operating structure comprises multiple well-known cruise brands that target distinct geographic and demographic markets.