Brokerages Set Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Price Target at $348.29

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $348.2857.

RCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Mizuho set a $379.00 price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 7.0%

Shares of RCL opened at $266.36 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $72.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.87. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $304.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.07.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total transaction of $76,475,593.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,120,443,401.40. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total transaction of $2,562,053.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,121.06. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935. Insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 156,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,751,000 after acquiring an additional 81,393 shares during the period. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter worth $108,000. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter worth about $222,000. Finally, Monetary Solutions Ltd purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company 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.