Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 2,129 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. by 7.0% by purchasing an additional 2,129 shares, bringing its total holdings to 32,334 shares, valued at approximately $6.64 million.
• Recent insider transactions include CAO Henry L. Pujol selling 5,207 shares for over $1.71 million, representing a significant decrease in his ownership.
• Royal Caribbean recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $1.00 per share, reflecting confidence in its financial performance.

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,334 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,129 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $6,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Optimum Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, SouthState Corp acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total transaction of $3,399,412.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,414,966.28. This represents a 38.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,507 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,282. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on RCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $235.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Truist Financial set a $337.00 price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $230.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.14.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE:RCL traded down $13.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $337.20. 2,071,042 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,852,269. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.12. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.04 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 47.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.21 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.410-15.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 5.550-5.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 25th. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is presently 29.99%.

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.