Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $254.03, but opened at $248.35. Royal Caribbean Cruises shares last traded at $249.17, with a volume of 178,388 shares changing hands.

Specifically, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.10, for a total transaction of $4,960,760.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 165,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,868,055.10. This trade represents a 10.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on RCL. Macquarie dropped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $300.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $249.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $64.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $214.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.18. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.92%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 51.9% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 44,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,068,000 after acquiring an additional 15,078 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter worth approximately $230,000. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 37,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,704,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter valued at $406,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.