AlphaCentric Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

AlphaCentric Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 877 shares of the company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RCL. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,137,000 after purchasing an additional 7,740 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at $297,000. MN Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.1 %

RCL opened at $262.99 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $113.10 and a 12 month high of $277.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $243.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is 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 (DPR) is 20.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total value of $763,922.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,243,287.76. The trade was a 12.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 392,109 shares of company stock worth $92,652,468. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

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.