Strs Ohio Invests $26.35 Million in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Strs Ohio invested approximately $26.35 million in Royal Caribbean Cruises, acquiring 128,251 shares in the 1st quarter of the year.
• Several analysts have significantly raised their price targets for Royal Caribbean Cruises, with JPMorgan Chase increasing its target from $302 to $367.
• Royal Caribbean has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, reflecting positive financial performance and a robust outlook.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 128,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,348,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 10,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,610 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at $547,000. Finally, Man Group plc increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 537.2% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 84,105 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,402,000 after acquiring an additional 70,905 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on RCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $302.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $330.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $327.14.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $337.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.92. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-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 $91.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises'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 forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 25th. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.99%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,414,966.28. This represents a 38.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 5,207 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,578,432.22. This trade represents a 39.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,507 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,282 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.95% of the company's stock.

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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