Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Sold by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 32.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,108 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,489 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $22,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 433,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,595,000 after purchasing an additional 43,184 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,806,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,728,810,000 after purchasing an additional 461,990 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 253.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 556,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,241,000 after purchasing an additional 398,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tema Etfs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,562,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total value of $76,475,593.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,120,443,401.40. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,121.06. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $290.96 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $78.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.83. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-week high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.