Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Director Richard D. Fain Sells 19,500 Shares of Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. This trade represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.1 %

RCL stock opened at $262.99 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $113.10 and a twelve month high of $277.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The firm has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $243.47 and a 200 day moving average of $208.02.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.58%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on RCL. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Macquarie raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.12.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RCL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth $707,833,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,476,003,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068,114 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,327,000 after purchasing an additional 502,349 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10,599.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 409,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,696,000 after purchasing an additional 406,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,856,000 after purchasing an additional 353,893 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.