Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Increases Dividend to $1.50 Per Share

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of 1.50 per share on Friday, April 3rd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a 50.0% increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has increased its dividend by an average of 0.4%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a payout ratio of 22.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Royal Caribbean Cruises to earn $17.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.8%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of RCL traded down $15.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $331.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,583,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,980. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1-year low of $164.01 and a 1-year high of $366.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $292.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $303.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,021,893,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,165,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,088,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,215,382 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,604,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,270,252,000 after purchasing an additional 929,414 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,176,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,627,669,000 after buying an additional 920,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 135.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,306,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,925,000 after acquiring an additional 750,723 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.