Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 36,096 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 615,073 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,096 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $199,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total transaction of $309,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,010,571.84. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $372.00 to $362.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $342.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $286.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $333.00 to $321.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.68.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $300.98 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $273.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.94.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.16 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 44.68% and a net margin of 23.33%.The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.20 EPS. 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 26.90%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company 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.