Kiker Wealth Management LLC Invests $1.75 Million in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 7,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,749,000. Royal Caribbean Cruises accounts for approximately 1.4% of Kiker Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 511.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $5,142,000 after purchasing an additional 12,530 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at $231,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on RCL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $214.75 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $57.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.81. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $125.06 and a 12-month high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.