Sierra Ocean LLC Takes Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% in the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.89, for a total value of $33,150,685.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,167,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,868,240.23. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total transaction of $763,922.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,243,287.76. This trade represents a 12.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 392,109 shares of company stock valued at $92,652,468. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on RCL shares. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $253.00 target price (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $262.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $243.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $113.10 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The stock has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 20.58%.

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.