Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Buys 198 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,024 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Royal Caribbean Cruises comprises approximately 1.3% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,674,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,890,943,000 after buying an additional 602,447 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,991,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,487,000 after purchasing an additional 535,043 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter valued at $358,614,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 22,154.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,410,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,332,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,786,000 after acquiring an additional 59,743 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $263.00 to $358.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $385.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $337.00 to $333.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 0.6%

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $326.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $88.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $334.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.30. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.04 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 47.15%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.21 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.410-15.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 5.550-5.650 EPS. On average, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 25th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 29.99%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 150,291 shares in the company, valued at $46,743,506.82. This represents a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total value of $3,399,412.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,507 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,282. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.