Market Update (NYSE:CCL): Carnival Corporation Finalizes Contracts with Fincantieri to Build Five New Cruise Ships

[PR Newswire] – NYSE: CUK), the world’s largest leisure travel company, today announced that it has finalized contracts with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri S.p.A. to build five new cruise ships as part of a memorandum of agreement announced in 2015. The five new ships include two that will be built for Costa Asia for deployment in China, two ships for Princess Cruises and one designated for P&O Cruises Australia, with deliveries expected in 2019 and 2020. The contracts were formalized during a signing ceremony held today as part of the official handover ceremony for Holland America Line’s ms Koningsdam at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Marghera, Italy, attended by Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Graziano Delrio, Carnival Corporation Chairman Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono. Read more on this. Carnival Corporation (CCL) , valued at $40.02B, opened this morning at $52.80. Today, shares have traded between $52.53 and $53.21 per share with its 52-week range being $40.52 to $55.77. CCL shares are currently priced at 15.51x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 21.12x earnings multiple. The company pays shareholders $1.20 per share in dividend income per year, for a current yield of 2.27%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 16 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.38 per share, which would be $0.13 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.00 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $3.40 is a $0.70 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $3.68 Billion. If realized, that would be a 2.51% increase over the year-ago quarter. Recently, HSBC Securities Initiated CCL at Buy (Nov 25, 2015). Previously, Nomura upgraded CCL from Neutral to Buy. Given all the information above, we should disclose to readers that the average price target is $60.50, which is 14.58% above than it opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:CCL) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) – Got the Winter Blues? Take a Carnival Corporation Virtual Cruise Company Update (NYSE:CCL): Carnival Corporation to Build Four Cruise Ships as Part of Memo of Agreement with Fincantieri S.p.A. Company Update: Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) – Carnival Corporation Expands to Four Cruise Brands in China, Accelerates Market Leadership with Additional Ships Serving Chinese Travelers in 2017