Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 477,883 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 260.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 661,025 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 477,883 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $213,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RCL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,604,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,270,252,000 after buying an additional 929,414 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,492,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,293,302,000 after acquiring an additional 330,770 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,667,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,877,000 after acquiring an additional 415,230 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,317,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,997,000 after acquiring an additional 284,037 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,021,893,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $367.00 to $357.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Susquehanna set a $350.00 price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.68.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 0.9%

RCL opened at $290.62 on Wednesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $164.01 and a fifty-two week high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $79.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $278.73 and a 200-day moving average of $304.25.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.07. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 44.68%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.20 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.90%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total value of $309,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,571.84. The trade was a 7.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

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.