Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Sold by Renaissance Group LLC

Renaissance Group LLC lessened its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,040 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,648 shares during the period. Royal Caribbean Cruises makes up approximately 1.4% of Renaissance Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $35,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 29.1% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.29.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RCL opened at $347.86 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $289.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $303.88.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 25.62%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.