Brokerages Set Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) PT at $35.00

Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CCL. Wall Street Zen upgraded Carnival from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Carnival in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 target price on shares of Carnival in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Carnival in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carnival

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Carnival by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,133,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,913,190,000 after acquiring an additional 368,445 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Carnival by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,074,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,468,185,000 after purchasing an additional 704,433 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 0.8% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 36,109,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,043,929,000 after buying an additional 291,864 shares during the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 9.6% in the third quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 31,912,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $922,576,000 after buying an additional 2,783,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Carnival by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,450,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $896,104,000 after buying an additional 683,311 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carnival Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE CCL opened at $32.57 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.45. Carnival has a 52-week low of $15.07 and a 52-week high of $34.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $40.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.49.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.38 billion. Carnival had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 28.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Carnival has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.170-0.170 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.480-2.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Carnival will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carnival Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Carnival’s payout ratio is currently 30.00%.

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.