Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Upgraded by Freedom Capital to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $309.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $296.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $351.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.79.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $293.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $271.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.15. The company has a market cap of $78.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.77. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52 week low of $232.10 and a 52 week high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.25% and a net margin of 24.36%.The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 17.27 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 184.4% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

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.