Versor Investments LP Grows Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Versor Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 104.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,656 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,570,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,502,000 after acquiring an additional 58,159 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,327,000 after acquiring an additional 502,349 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 725,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,699,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 591,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 569,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,468,000 after acquiring an additional 18,868 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $246.04 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $244.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.48. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $121.58 and a one year high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $66.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 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 posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,539,648.30. The trade was a 41.48 % 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Macquarie raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

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.