Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 14,419 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 114.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,974 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,419 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $8,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,604,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,270,252,000 after purchasing an additional 929,414 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,492,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,293,302,000 after buying an additional 330,770 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,667,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,877,000 after buying an additional 415,230 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,317,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,997,000 after acquiring an additional 284,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,021,893,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises 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 transaction of $309,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,571.84. This trade represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $287.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $276.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.78. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 26.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Susquehanna set a $350.00 price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $286.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $334.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.82.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.