Lunt Capital Management Inc. Buys 2,372 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Lunt Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. by 48%, owning 7,310 shares after acquiring 2,372 additional shares during Q2, valued at approximately $2.29 million.
• Several equities research analysts have raised their price targets for Royal Caribbean Cruises, with JPMorgan boosting it from $302 to $367, reflecting strong growth expectations for the company.
• Royal Caribbean Cruises recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00, up from the previous $0.75, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%.

Lunt Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 48.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,310 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,372 shares during the quarter. Lunt Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $2,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $302.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $263.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen began coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $405.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $326.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 5,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,826 shares in the company, valued at $2,578,432.22. This trade represents a 39.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total value of $3,399,412.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,414,966.28. This trade represents a 38.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,507 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,282. 6.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $313.40 on Wednesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $164.01 and a fifty-two week high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.08. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $329.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.54.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.04 by $0.34. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $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. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, September 25th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.99%.

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.

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