Investors Purchase High Volume of Royal Caribbean Cruises Put Options (NYSE:RCL)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 17,450 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 80% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,698 put options.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL stock traded down $0.60 on Tuesday, reaching $289.95. 1,394,665 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,557,676. The company has a market cap of $78.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $304.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $301.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.18. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.44%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total transaction of $76,475,593.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,120,443,401.40. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total transaction of $453,144.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,203,935.82. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935 in the last 90 days. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after buying an additional 6,063 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.7% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth $487,000. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at $207,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $379.00 price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.