Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Position Raised by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 49.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,786 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,501 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $7,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth approximately $6,549,422,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,689,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,409,971,000 after purchasing an additional 270,930 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at about $669,804,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,957,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,393,000 after purchasing an additional 38,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth $597,350,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RCL. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $357.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Northcoast Research cut their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $368.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $354.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $340.00 to $337.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $350.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $281.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.19. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $222.22 and a 1 year high of $356.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $286.88.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.23. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 23.54%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 17.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, CEO Michael Bayley sold 12,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.99, for a total transaction of $4,048,147.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 45,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,313,399.03. The trade was a 22.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 6.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., doing business as Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL), is a global cruise company that operates vacation cruises and related travel experiences. Its fleet visits destinations across the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Asia, Australia, and other regions, with itineraries that typically include onboard entertainment, dining, accommodations, recreational activities, and shore excursions.

The company’s principal brands include Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises.