Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Upgraded by Loop Capital to “Buy” Rating

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) was upgraded by Loop Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $250.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.24% from the stock’s current price.

RCL has been the subject of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE RCL opened at $215.08 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $243.90 and its 200-day moving average is $217.48. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12-month low of $124.24 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a market cap of $57.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 618.8% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 115 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.