Strategic Investment Advisors MI Grows Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,600 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,246 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $2,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $269.71 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $303.13 and its 200 day moving average is $298.38. The company has a market capitalization of $72.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.87. 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 (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 38.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total transaction of $29,710,297.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,513,217.82. This trade represents a 29.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total value of $113,355,118.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,681,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,311,186,488.54. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho set a $379.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.52.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.