Danske Bank A S Makes New Investment in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 148,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,063,000. Danske Bank A S owned approximately 0.05% of Royal Caribbean Cruises as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.6% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% in 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. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.0% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $269.71 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $303.13 and its 200 day moving average is $298.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $72.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.87. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $164.01 and a twelve month high of $366.50.

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

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 38.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 directly owned 32,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,695,121.06. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the business’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 approximately $5,120,443,401.40. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho set a $379.00 price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.52.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.