William Blair Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for RCL

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) – William Blair decreased their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report released on Monday, April 21st. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now expects that the company will post earnings of $2.53 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.55. The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ current full-year earnings is $14.90 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Q4 2025 earnings at $2.72 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $308.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:RCL opened at $211.49 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1 year low of $130.08 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $212.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.18. The company has a market cap of $57.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total transaction of $4,447,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,021,265.74. The trade was a 28.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. This represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,712,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,854,905,000 after purchasing an additional 278,860 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,476,003,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068,114 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,856,000 after acquiring an additional 353,893 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at $707,833,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,080,000 after purchasing an additional 513,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.