Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Raised to “Buy” at Loop Capital

Loop Capital upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Loop Capital currently has $250.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Argus lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Macquarie lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 target price (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $231.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52 week low of $124.24 and a 52 week high of $277.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $244.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS 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 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 over the last ninety days. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 618.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 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.