Rhumbline Advisers Trims Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 0.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 516,105 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,271 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $167,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth approximately $1,021,893,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,604,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,270,252,000 after acquiring an additional 929,414 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at $172,488,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7,971.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 540,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,165,000 after buying an additional 533,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 91.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,087,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,590,000 after purchasing an additional 520,353 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RCL opened at $333.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $91.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.91. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its 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 return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $350.00 target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.29.

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.