Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. by 55.2% in the second quarter, now owning 2,549 shares valued at approximately $798,000.
• Royal Caribbean Cruises reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.38, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue reaching $4.54 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00, representing a 33% increase from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 55.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,549 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 907 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,674,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,890,943,000 after buying an additional 602,447 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 21.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,991,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $614,487,000 after buying an additional 535,043 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter worth about $358,614,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,332,682 shares of the company's stock worth $273,786,000 after purchasing an additional 59,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 14.9% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 992,579 shares of the company's stock worth $203,915,000 after purchasing an additional 128,530 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

RCL opened at $314.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.08. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $164.01 and a twelve month high of $366.50. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $330.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $283.46. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 47.15%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.21 earnings per share. 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, 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 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 $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 25th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on RCL. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $405.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $263.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $337.00 to $333.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $326.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 5,207 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.47, for a total value of $1,715,550.29. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,826 shares in the company, valued at $2,578,432.22. The trade was a 39.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 16,407 shares in the company, valued at $5,414,966.28. The trade was a 38.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,507 shares of company stock worth $10,091,282 in the last ninety days. 6.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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