Carnival "buy," target price raised

18.06.07 - A.G. Edwards & Sons

NEW YORK, June 18 (newratings.com) - Analyst Tim Conder of AG Edwards maintains his "buy" rating on Carnival Corp (CCL). The 12-18 month price objective has been raised from $52 to $54.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that the pricing for both short and long itineraries seems to be bottoming in the Caribbean. Investors are likely to take this positively, since Carnival is the industry price leader, the analyst says. The pricing comparisons are likely to ease now and if fuel costs remain at the current levels, this would be neutral to modestly positive to the company?s earnings in 2007 and 2008, AG Edwards adds.