Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Trading Up 5.4% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) rose 5.4% during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $276.11 and last traded at $274.5530. Approximately 877,305 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 2,387,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $260.38.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 26.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $358.00 to $342.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $334.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $333.00 to $321.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.45.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $280.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $303.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $74.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.91.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.07. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 44.68% and a net margin of 23.33%.The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.580-15.630 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.740-2.790 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total value of $309,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,010,571.84. The trade was a 7.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position 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 buying an additional 15,431 shares during the last quarter. CMC Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter worth about $273,000. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 2,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at about $146,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

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 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.