Carnival Gains Over 5% As It Resumes Sailings

Shares of Carnival Corp (CCL) rose 5.2% on Thursday after the cruise operator confirmed that it will resume sailing in Italy this weekend.

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Carnival confirmed that two cruise line brands from its Italy-based Costa Cruises are scheduled to restart sailing on Sept. 6. The company also announced that Germany-based AIDA Cruises will resume sailings with two of its ships on Nov. 1, followed by an additional two ships in December 2020. (See CCL stock analysis on TipRanks).

The company said in the press release that “In working with global and national health authorities and medical experts, Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises have developed a comprehensive set of health and hygiene protocols to help facilitate a safe, healthy return to cruise vacations.”

Earlier in July, SunTrust analyst Patrick Scholes downgraded the stock to Sell from Hold and slashed the price target to $10 (43.1% downside potential) from $12, saying that as more resumption date delays are announced, investors will become “increasingly disappointed”.

Currently, the Street has sidelined the stock. The Hold analyst consensus is based on 12 Holds, 2 Buys and 4 Sells. Despite the year-to-date share price decline of about 65.4%, the average price target of $15.79 implies further downside potential of 10.2% from current levels.