Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $326.8636.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on RCL shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $337.00 to $333.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $358.00 to $342.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $263.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $312.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.86. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.07. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 44.68% and a net margin of 23.33%.The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.580-15.630 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 2.740-2.790 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total transaction of $3,399,412.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,414,966.28. This trade represents a 38.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total transaction of $309,936.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,010,571.84. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.