Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Stock Price Down 5.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) traded down 5.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $318.00 to $297.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Royal Caribbean Cruises traded as low as $233.15 and last traded at $233.4880. 579,648 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 2,550,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.20.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on RCL. UBS Group reduced their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $309.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $350.00 to $337.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $377.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total transaction of $76,475,593.04. Following the sale, the director owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,120,443,401.40. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,135,858 shares of company stock worth $358,605,301 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.44% of the company’s stock.

Key Royal Caribbean Cruises News

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from “hold” to “strong sell,” a bearish signal that may weigh on investor sentiment. Zacks downgrade report
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also lowered earnings estimates for Q3 2026, Q4 2026, FY2026, and Q1 2027, suggesting expectations for slightly softer results ahead. Zacks estimate revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Caribbean is also facing a potential setback in Mexico, after authorities rejected its “Perfect Day” water park proposal, forcing the company to reassess related investment plans. Mexico rejects Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day water park
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention remains elevated, with RCL among the most searched cruise stocks and compared with peers in recent market commentary, but this is not a direct fundamental catalyst. Investors heavily search Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL)

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,165,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,088,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,215,382 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,253,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,438,292,000 after purchasing an additional 187,283 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,176,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,627,669,000 after purchasing an additional 920,042 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,576,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,433,052,000 after buying an additional 84,202 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,054,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,961,758,000 after buying an additional 155,491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 2.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $270.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.87. The company has a market cap of $69.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.77.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.40. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 45.25%. The business had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.830-3.930 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.100-17.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 17.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.61%.

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.