Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) & Cool (NYSE:CLCO) Head to Head Review

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) and Cool (NYSE:CLCO) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Royal Caribbean Cruises and Cool’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Royal Caribbean Cruises	$13.17 billion	2.06	-$2.16 billion	$3.20	33.07
Cool	$161.96 million	3.32	$85.74 million	$2.37	5.66

Cool has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Royal Caribbean Cruises. Cool is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Royal Caribbean Cruises, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Royal Caribbean Cruises pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Cool pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises pays out 97.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cool pays out 69.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cool is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Royal Caribbean Cruises and Cool’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Royal Caribbean Cruises	6.98%	34.59%	3.67%
Cool	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

75.6% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.7% of Cool shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Royal Caribbean Cruises and Cool, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Royal Caribbean Cruises	0	3	10	0	2.77
Cool	0	0	1	0	3.00

Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus target price of $111.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.91%. Given Royal Caribbean Cruises’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Royal Caribbean Cruises is more favorable than Cool.

Summary

Royal Caribbean Cruises beats Cool on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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 13, 2023, it operated 64 ships. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Cool

Cool Company Ltd. engages in the ownership, operation, and management of liquefied natural gas carriers (LNGCs) that provides supply chain support solutions for energy industry. The company owns and operates a fleet of LNGCs, including tri-fuel diesel electric vessels; and floating storage and regasification units for third parties. Cool Company Ltd. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.