RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,670 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter worth $27,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 618.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 115 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of RCL stock opened at $212.17 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $125.06 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 28.06%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 in the last three months. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on RCL. Tigress Financial lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.58.

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.