DnB Asset Management AS Boosts Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,608 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $10,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RCL. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 511.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,142,000 after acquiring an additional 12,530 shares during the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at $231,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,137,000 after purchasing an additional 7,740 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on RCL shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 target price for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.33.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $207.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.72. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $125.06 and a twelve month high of $277.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total value of $4,447,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,021,265.74. The trade was a 28.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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.