Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Purchased by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 76.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,557 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,846 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 41,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,527,000 after buying an additional 6,865 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 207,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,891,000 after acquiring an additional 40,619 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth about $1,014,000. Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE RCL opened at $273.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.18. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.93.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. 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. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Barclays raised 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 report on Friday, January 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total value of $76,475,593.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,435,910 shares in the company, valued at $5,120,443,401.40. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total transaction of $453,144.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,849 shares in the company, valued at $4,203,935.82. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.