EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Purchases New Shares in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,765,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RCL. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 27.1% during the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Susquehanna set a $350.00 price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $286.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $316.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.68.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total transaction of $309,936.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,234 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,571.84. The trade was a 7.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $290.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $278.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $79.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.94. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-week high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.07. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 44.68%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 26.90%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.