Silvant Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Silvant Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 278,466 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,564 shares during the quarter. Royal Caribbean Cruises comprises about 3.1% of Silvant Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Silvant Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $90,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.6% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.0% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $277.94 on Wednesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $164.01 and a fifty-two week high of $366.50. The company has a market cap of $75.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.58.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 38.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total value of $76,475,593.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,120,443,401.40. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total value of $2,562,053.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,121.06. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935 over the last ninety days. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on RCL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.52.

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.