Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Stock Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 207,555 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,619 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $57,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after acquiring an additional 6,063 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth about $139,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 9,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 155,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,592,000 after purchasing an additional 23,403 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total transaction of $113,355,118.14. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total value of $29,710,297.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 218,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,513,217.82. The trade was a 29.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RCL opened at $261.51 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $300.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.36. 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 firm has a market cap of $70.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.87.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.