Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on RCL. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $358.00 to $342.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $420.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $367.00 to $357.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $350.00 price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.82.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

NYSE RCL traded up $2.85 during trading on Monday, hitting $258.85. 439,989 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,377,794. The company has a market cap of $70.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a fifty-two week low of $164.01 and a fifty-two week high of $366.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $300.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $301.75.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 44.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.20 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.580-15.630 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 2.740-2.790 EPS. Research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 25th. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.90%.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total value of $309,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,010,571.84. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.4% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.8% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.5% in the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 149,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,803,000 after buying an additional 24,423 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.