Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 54 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,572 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $21,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% during the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,570,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,502,000 after acquiring an additional 58,159 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,519,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,418,000 after acquiring an additional 48,480 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,327,000 after acquiring an additional 502,349 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 591,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 569,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,468,000 after acquiring an additional 18,868 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total value of $4,447,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,127 shares in the company, valued at $11,021,265.74. This trade represents a 28.75 % decrease in their position. 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.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $215.76 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. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $125.06 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The stock has a market cap of $58.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $240.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.17.

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 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Macquarie raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.53.

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.