Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Takes Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE has acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., purchasing 25,017 shares valued at approximately $7.83 million, which now constitutes 1.4% of its investment portfolio.
• Institutional investors hold nearly 87.53% of Royal Caribbean's shares, with several hedge funds increasing their stakes this year, including significant boosts from Florida Financial Advisors LLC and Vanguard Group Inc.
• Royal Caribbean recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $1.00 per share, reflecting a positive change in its financial performance.

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 25,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,834,000. Royal Caribbean Cruises accounts for 1.4% of Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Revisor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the first quarter valued at $1,525,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 87.6% in the first quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Roberts Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the first quarter valued at $572,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 602,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 25.0% in the first quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 8,615 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 16,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.02, for a total transaction of $4,976,320.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 150,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,743,506.82. The trade was a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,507 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,282. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $263.00 to $358.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $326.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of RCL opened at $299.10 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $329.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.35. The stock has a market cap of $81.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 2.08. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue 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. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 25th. This is a positive change 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 1.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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