William Blair Has Bullish Forecast for RCL Q2 Earnings

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair upped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note issued to investors on Monday, April 21st. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $3.98 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $3.85. The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises' current full-year earnings is $14.90 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises' Q3 2025 earnings at $5.85 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $15.07 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $17.77 EPS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on RCL. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $272.85.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE RCL traded up $1.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $213.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,211,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,299,752. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a fifty-two week low of $130.08 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. The company has a market cap of $57.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $211.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.84.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 300 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 175.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,107,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $109,000. Finally, American Trust purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This trade represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.