Carnival Cruise Line (NYSE: CCL) and Hoegh LNG Partners (NYSE:HMLP) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and dividends.
Profitability
Get Carnival Cruise Line alerts:
This table compares Carnival Cruise Line and Hoegh LNG Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Carnival Cruise Line | 14.73% | 11.97% | 7.01% |
| Hoegh LNG Partners | 33.99% | 10.71% | 4.28% |
Volatility & Risk
Carnival Cruise Line has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hoegh LNG Partners has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Carnival Cruise Line pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Hoegh LNG Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.8%. Carnival Cruise Line pays out 20.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hoegh LNG Partners pays out 129.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Carnival Cruise Line has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Hoegh LNG Partners has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Carnival Cruise Line and Hoegh LNG Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Carnival Cruise Line | 0 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 2.71 |
| Hoegh LNG Partners | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3.00 |
Carnival Cruise Line currently has a consensus price target of $74.78, indicating a potential upside of 15.57%. Hoegh LNG Partners has a consensus price target of $21.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.34%. Given Hoegh LNG Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hoegh LNG Partners is more favorable than Carnival Cruise Line.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Carnival Cruise Line and Hoegh LNG Partners’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Carnival Cruise Line | $17.51 billion | 1.97 | $2.61 billion | $3.82 | 16.94 |
| Hoegh LNG Partners | $143.53 million | 4.16 | $48.78 million | $1.36 | 13.27 |
Carnival Cruise Line has higher revenue and earnings than Hoegh LNG Partners. Hoegh LNG Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carnival Cruise Line, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
77.2% of Carnival Cruise Line shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.1% of Hoegh LNG Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.8% of Carnival Cruise Line shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Carnival Cruise Line beats Hoegh LNG Partners on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Corporation operates as a leisure travel and cruise company. It offers cruises under the Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn brands in North America; and AIDA, Costa, P&O Cruises (Australia), Cunard, and P&O Cruises (UK) brands in Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates approximately 100 cruise ships. It also owns Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, a tour company in Alaska; and the Canadian Yukon, which owns and operates hotels, lodges, glass-domed railcars, and motor coaches. In addition, the company is involved in the lease of cruise ships. It sells its cruises primarily through travel agents and tour operators. The company was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida. Carnival Corporation is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc.
About Hoegh LNG Partners
H枚egh LNG Partners LP focuses on owning, operating, and acquiring floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, and other LNG infrastructure assets under long-term charters. The company also offers ship management services. As of March 31, 2017, it had a fleet of five FSRUs. H枚egh LNG GP LLC is the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. H枚egh LNG Partners LP is a subsidiary of H枚egh LNG Holdings Ltd.
