Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Invests $2.03 Million in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Royal Caribbean Cruises, buying 7,256 shares worth about $2.03 million.
• Institutional ownership in RCL remains very high at 87.53%, while insider ownership is 6.44%; recent insider activity included Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen selling 356,026 shares in February.
• Royal Caribbean beat quarterly EPS expectations, reported $3.60 EPS versus $3.20 expected, and raised guidance for Q2 2026 and full-year 2026. The stock was trading at $267.37, and analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $344.05.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,027,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 135.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,306,784 shares of the company's stock worth $366,925,000 after purchasing an additional 750,723 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,101,544 shares of the company's stock worth $356,515,000 after buying an additional 683,896 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 560.9% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 676,645 shares of the company's stock worth $218,949,000 after buying an additional 574,256 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 260.9% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 661,025 shares of the company's stock worth $213,895,000 after acquiring an additional 477,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,066,167 shares of the company's stock worth $9,728,810,000 after acquiring an additional 461,990 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RCL. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $318.00 to $297.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $344.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total transaction of $113,355,118.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,681,386 shares of the company's stock, 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 at this link. 6.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $267.37 on Wednesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $232.10 and a 1 year high of $366.50. The firm's 50-day moving average is $269.27 and its 200-day moving average is $281.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.77.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.40. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 45.25%. The business had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.830-3.930 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.100-17.500 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 17.27 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.61%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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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