Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. Makes New $231,000 Investment in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10,599.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 409,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,696,000 after acquiring an additional 406,048 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2,042.8% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 122,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,349,000 after buying an additional 117,152 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 161,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,703,000 after buying an additional 93,899 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,544,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3,935.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 76,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,635,000 after buying an additional 74,966 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on RCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $261.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $244.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.17. The company has a market capitalization of $70.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.59. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $113.10 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.58%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.89, for a total value of $33,150,685.17. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,167,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,321,868,240.23. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.