Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Bought by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Key Points

• Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean by 132.5% in Q3 to 30,709 shares, valued at about $9.94 million.
• Company insiders sold heavily last quarter — Director Arne Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares (~$113.4M) and CEO Jason Liberty sold 90,910 shares (~$29.7M), with insiders offloading 1,967,319 shares worth ~$626.7M in total.
• Royal Caribbean also approved a $2.0 billion share buyback (up to ~2.6% of stock), raised the quarterly dividend to $1.50 (annualized $6.00, ~2.2% yield), and carries an average analyst target of $348.29 with a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating.

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 132.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,709 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,501 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $9,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RCL. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company's stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. EWA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 794 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,197,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.5% during the third quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the company's stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total transaction of $113,355,118.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,681,386 shares in the company, valued at $5,311,186,488.54. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total transaction of $29,710,297.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,822 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,513,217.82. The trade was a 29.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935 in the last quarter. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on RCL shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho set a $379.00 price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.29.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RCL opened at $272.44 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $304.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.78. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $164.01 and a 52 week high of $366.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is presently 38.44%.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises NYSE: RCL, operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean's ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.

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