Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $348.2857.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RCL. Mizuho set a $379.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $290.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $304.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.83. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1-year low of $164.01 and a 1-year high of $366.50. The firm has a market cap of $78.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.87.

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

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 38.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the company’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 directly owned 12,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,203,935.82. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total transaction of $2,562,053.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,121.06. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RCL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,021,893,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,165,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,088,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,215,382 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 25,747.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,202,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197,510 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,604,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,270,252,000 after purchasing an additional 929,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,176,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,627,669,000 after purchasing an additional 920,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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.