Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $271.95.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on RCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 price target on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, April 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $279.00 price target on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.10, for a total transaction of $4,960,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 165,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,868,055.10. This represents a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 511.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth approximately $231,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,856,000 after buying an additional 353,893 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,137,000 after buying an additional 7,740 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of RCL opened at $248.99 on Wednesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52-week low of $130.08 and a 52-week 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’s fifty day moving average is $213.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.55. The stock has a market cap of $67.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.92%.

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

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.