Investors Buy High Volume of Carnival Call Options (NYSE:CCL)

Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 100,294 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 103% compared to the average volume of 49,497 call options.

Institutional Trading of Carnival

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCL. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Carnival by 66.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Sims Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 0.8% in the first quarter. Sims Investment Management LLC now owns 56,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Carnival by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 58,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Carnival by 107.8% during the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carnival by 22.7% during the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CCL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Carnival from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Carnival from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Carnival from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Carnival from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Melius Research set a $36.00 price target on shares of Carnival in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.45.

Key Carnival News

Here are the key news stories impacting Carnival this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record quarter beats expectations: Carnival reported record revenue of approximately $8.44 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.43 per share, exceeding analyst estimates of $8.39 billion and $1.35 per share. Net income reached about $1.92 billion, while adjusted EBITDA was roughly $3.0 billion. Carnival Corporation earnings release
• Positive Sentiment: Demand remains resilient: Record customer deposits of about $7.6 billion, along with record 2027 booked occupancy, pricing and booking volumes, suggest strong forward demand. CEO Josh Weinstein said vacation demand is holding up despite broader economic concerns. Carnival reports record earnings and bookings
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year outlook improved: Carnival raised its 2026 adjusted diluted EPS outlook to approximately $2.24, slightly above consensus, and increased its full-year net-yield forecast. The company has also repurchased approximately $1.2 billion of stock year to date and paid a quarterly dividend. Carnival earnings and guidance update
• Neutral Sentiment: Fuel costs remain a headwind: Higher fuel expenses reduced gross-margin yields by about 1.3% year over year, although Carnival reduced fuel consumption by roughly 4%, helping offset some of the pressure. Cruise line outlook and fuel costs
• Negative Sentiment: Balance-sheet risk persists: Investors continue to monitor Carnival’s substantial debt load and refinancing needs, particularly as interest rates remain elevated. Strong profits will need to support debt reduction and fleet investment. Carnival debt and interest-rate risks
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term guidance was mixed: Carnival’s fourth-quarter EPS outlook of $0.20 was below the roughly $0.25 analyst consensus, creating a potential constraint on the stock’s rally despite the strong full-year outlook.

Carnival Stock Performance

Shares of CCL traded up $2.97 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.11. 75,261,207 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,173,084. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 2.31. Carnival has a 12 month low of $21.45 and a 12 month high of $34.03.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 29th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. Carnival had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 11.24%.The firm had revenue of $8.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Carnival has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.200-0.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.240-2.240 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Carnival will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Carnival Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Carnival’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.03%.

About Carnival

Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL) is a global leisure travel company that operates cruise lines and related vacation businesses. Its brands offer ocean cruises, onboard entertainment, dining, accommodation, excursions and other travel experiences to passengers across a range of price points and destinations.

The company’s portfolio includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises.