Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Research Coverage Started at Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $279.00 price objective on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $308.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.85.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of RCL opened at $212.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $211.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.84. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a one year low of $130.08 and a one year high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RCL. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 511.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,856,000 after buying an additional 353,893 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,137,000 after acquiring an additional 7,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.