Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Takes $4.44 Million Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. during Q1, purchasing 21,597 shares valued at approximately $4.4 million.
• Insider transactions showed significant sales, with CAO Henry L. Pujol selling over 5,000 shares and Director Vagn O. Sorensen selling over 10,000 shares, indicating a decline in their ownership.
• Royal Caribbean Cruises reported a Q2 EPS of $4.38, exceeding the consensus estimate, and set optimistic FY 2025 guidance at 15.410-15.550 EPS.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 21,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,437,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,174,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 280,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,700,000 after purchasing an additional 10,310 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 76,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,527,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related 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 value of $4,976,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 150,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,743,506.82. This trade represents a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 5,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.47, for a total value of $1,715,550.29. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,578,432.22. This trade represents a 39.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,507 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,282 over the last quarter. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock traded down $13.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $337.20. 2,070,740 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,465,066. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $337.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.12. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $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, equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 25th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is currently 22.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $302.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $390.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.14.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company 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.