Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $262.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.33.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $217.23 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52 week low of $125.06 and a 52 week 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $239.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.94. The stock has a market cap of $58.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter worth $707,833,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,476,003,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068,114 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3,544.4% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 963,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,166,000 after acquiring an additional 936,609 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,080,000 after purchasing an additional 513,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,327,000 after purchasing an additional 502,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.53% 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.