Baird Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,371 shares of the company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 186,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,135,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares during the period. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth $1,332,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 48,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,149,000 after buying an additional 4,498 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 411.4% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 351,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,031,000 after buying an additional 282,571 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RCL has been the subject of several research reports. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.30.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $247.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.96. The company has a market cap of $67.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $130.08 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.92%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

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.