Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Purchases New Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 511.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at $231,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% during 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 buying an additional 353,893 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,137,000 after buying an additional 7,740 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at $4,221,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock traded up $2.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $256.79. 3,481,638 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,278,265. The company has a market capitalization of $69.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $130.08 and a 52-week high of $277.08.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is 24.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.10, for a total value of $4,960,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 165,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,868,055.10. This trade represents a 10.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $262.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $295.00 to $275.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $305.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Loop Capital raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $271.95.

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.