Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Receives $271.30 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $271.30.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RCL shares. Susquehanna cut their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $295.00 to $275.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $255.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $212.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.06. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52-week low of $130.08 and a 52-week high of $277.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. The trade was a 41.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,992 shares of company stock valued at $23,566,445 in the last three months. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at $231,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,856,000 after buying an additional 353,893 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 7,740 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.