Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

by · The Cerbat Gem

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL – Free Report) in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 target price for the company. Finally, Loop Capital raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.58.

View Our Latest Research Report on RCL

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE RCL opened at $212.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12 month low of $125.06 and a 12 month high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.63.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total transaction of $4,447,540.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,021,265.74. The trade was a 28.75 % 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. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth about $18,357,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at about $90,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth about $28,954,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $279,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading