Ritholtz Wealth Management Invests $287,000 in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management has invested approximately $287,000 in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., acquiring 916 shares in a new position during Q2.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Bank of New York Mellon Corp, have increased their stakes in Royal Caribbean Cruises, indicating growing confidence in the stock.
• Royal Caribbean recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $1.00 per share, signaling strong cash flow and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCL has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $385.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $263.00 to $358.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $372.00 to $362.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $302.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.14.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 16,000 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $46,743,506.82. This represents a 9.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 31,507 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,282 in the last ninety days. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $302.87 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $164.01 and a fifty-two week high of $366.50. The stock has a market cap of $82.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.08. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $329.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.10.

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. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 47.15%. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.410-15.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 5.550-5.650 EPS. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.99%.

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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