Generate Investment Management Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Generate Investment Management Ltd cut its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 48.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,970 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $4,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 433,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,595,000 after purchasing an additional 43,184 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter valued at $4,806,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,728,810,000 after purchasing an additional 461,990 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 49.3% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 117,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,931,000 after purchasing an additional 38,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 39,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,659,000 after purchasing an additional 6,253 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 4.4%

RCL stock opened at $262.01 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-week high of $366.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $70.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.68.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total transaction of $29,710,297.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,513,217.82. This trade represents a 29.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total transaction of $113,355,118.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,681,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,311,186,488.54. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.30.

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.