Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC has acquired 4,433 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., valued at approximately $1.388 million, indicating growing confidence among institutional investors in the cruise line.
• Royal Caribbean Cruises recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $4.38, surpassing estimates, and gave a FY 2025 guidance of 15.410-15.550 EPS, reflecting a positive outlook for the company.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $1.00, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, suggesting a return of value to shareholders amidst financial growth.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,388,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at about $7,834,000. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.5% in the second quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 3,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Omnia Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $241,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 3.9%

RCL opened at $299.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $81.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $164.01 and a 52 week high of $366.50. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $329.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.35.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.34. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 47.15% and a net margin of 20.97%.The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.410-15.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 5.550-5.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 25th. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is currently 29.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total value of $3,399,412.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,414,966.28. This represents a 38.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.02, for a total transaction of $4,976,320.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 150,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,743,506.82. This represents a 9.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,507 shares of company stock worth $10,091,282 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $263.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $390.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $235.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $326.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Profile

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.

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