TD Asset Management Inc Raises Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 560.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 676,645 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 574,256 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc owned about 0.25% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $218,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of RCL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,021,893,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,604,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,270,252,000 after purchasing an additional 929,414 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at $172,488,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 91.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,087,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,590,000 after buying an additional 520,353 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 260.9% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 661,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,895,000 after acquiring an additional 477,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total value of $2,562,053.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,121.06. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 345,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.73, for a total value of $108,961,896.03. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,207,517 shares in the company, valued at $5,432,929,342.41. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,195,712 shares of company stock valued at $383,111,652 in the last ninety days. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RCL. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $318.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 4.8%

RCL opened at $317.10 on Wednesday. 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 Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The company has a market cap of $85.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $303.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $303.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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 repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.62%.

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.