Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $243.25.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $189.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $180.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 0.7 %

RCL opened at $227.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1-year low of $113.10 and a 1-year high of $258.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.39. The company has a market capitalization of $61.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 52.92% and a net margin of 16.21%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 11.65 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total value of $763,922.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,243,287.76. This trade represents a 12.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 230,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.62, for a total value of $53,732,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,556,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,253,633.20. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,332 shares of company stock worth $94,299,521 in the last quarter. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 105.7% during the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,512,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,075,000 after purchasing an additional 777,103 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10,599.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 409,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,696,000 after purchasing an additional 406,048 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,048,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,616,000 after buying an additional 400,565 shares in the last quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at $35,038,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 809.6% during the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 173,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,601,000 after acquiring an additional 154,090 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.