The cruise industry may be making a comeback, and Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) landed a nice little boost in its own right. Shares were up over 1.5% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading as Carnival posted a major gain in the Management Top 250 rankings, based on a report from the Wall Street Journal.
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The Management Top 250 ranking, the report noted, is a measure of corporate success using the metrics established by “the late management guru Peter Drucker.” The metrics include: employee engagement and development, overall financial strength, customer satisfaction, social responsibility and innovation.
Carnival, for its part, has been taking these metrics to heart, the report noted, as its score gained an extra 13.9 points, bringing it to 59.3. That by itself means little, but the 59.3 score puts it in the number 128 slot on the list of “most effectively managed companies in the United States.” Carnival’s biggest win was in “employee engagement and development,” where it managed to land as number 71 out of the Management Top 250.
Facing Troubles
One major measure of how well a business can do is how well it faces adversity. A report from Cruise News Today noted that some Carnival ships have been experiencing “technical issues.” The Carnival Conquest, the report noted, docked in Miami, where the captain announced the ship would be departing late. Meanwhile, a subsequent announcement noted that scheduled maintenance was under way, and an electrical issue briefly took out the ship’s Wi-Fi.
A report from The Travel also notes Carnival stepping up to take out a major issue for cruise patrons: chair hogging. There is now a 40-minute limit on chairs left unattended, the report noted, which should help make sure that those who are looking for seating on the deck should be able to get their hands on same. Those who leave their items behind as a means to “mark” their chair, meanwhile, will find those items removed.
Is Carnival Cruise Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CCL stock based on 11 Buys, three Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 46.36% rally in its share price over the past year, the average CCL price target of $30.14 per share implies 20.92% upside potential.
