Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Raises Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 411.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 351,256 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 282,571 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.13% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $81,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,712,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,854,905,000 after purchasing an additional 278,860 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,476,003,000 after buying an additional 2,068,114 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,373,856,000 after acquiring an additional 353,893 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth about $707,833,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,364,794 shares of the company's stock worth $545,534,000 after acquiring an additional 319,264 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RCL. Barclays raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $249.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $295.00 to $275.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $262.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $253.00 price target (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $272.55.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock traded up $9.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $230.03. The company had a trading volume of 2,208,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,302,639. The company has a market capitalization of $62.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $130.08 and a 12-month high of $277.08. The company's fifty day moving average is $209.52 and its 200-day moving average is $227.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.18. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.92%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.