Kentucky Trust Co Makes New $150,000 Investment in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hartford Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 15,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,538,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Certuity LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter worth $272,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE RCL opened at $256.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $113.10 and a 12-month high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 20.58%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on RCL. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total value of $763,922.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,243,287.76. This represents a 12.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 230,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.62, for a total transaction of $53,732,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,556,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,253,633.20. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 372,609 shares of company stock worth $87,647,208 in the last three months. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.