Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Sells 16,984 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP decreased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 43.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,113 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,984 shares during the quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $7,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 44.3% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 50,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,276,000 after purchasing an additional 15,431 shares during the last quarter. CMC Financial Group purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth about $273,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 2,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at about $146,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCL has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho set a $379.00 price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.52.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE RCL opened at $262.45 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $301.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS 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 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 32,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,695,121.06. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total value of $453,144.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,849 shares in the company, valued at $4,203,935.82. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.