Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Increases Dividend to $0.75 Per Share

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share on Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has a payout ratio of 12.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Royal Caribbean Cruises to earn $17.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.6%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $256.11 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $243.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.65. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12 month low of $113.10 and a 12 month high of $277.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Loop Capital began coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 230,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.62, for a total transaction of $53,732,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,556,860 shares in the company, valued at $4,335,253,633.20. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total value of $763,922.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,243,287.76. This represents a 12.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 372,609 shares of company stock worth $87,647,208 in the last 90 days. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.