Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 24,022 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 164% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,093 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.06.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $268.77 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $238.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.21. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52-week low of $113.10 and a 52-week high of $271.31. The company has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.19.

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 return on equity of 52.92% and a net margin of 16.21%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 11.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 230,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.62, for a total value of $53,732,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,556,860 shares in the company, valued at $4,335,253,633.20. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total transaction of $763,922.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,243,287.76. This trade represents a 12.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 372,609 shares of company stock worth $87,647,208. 7.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 93.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 8,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 3,925 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 144.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 8,340 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth about $260,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth about $1,595,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth approximately $69,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.