Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.75 Per Share

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share on Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has a dividend payout ratio of 17.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Royal Caribbean Cruises to earn $17.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.1%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 0.5 %

RCL stock opened at $228.16 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $61.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52-week low of $124.24 and a 52-week high of $277.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.40.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on RCL shares. Argus raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Insider Transactions 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 sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 over the last three months. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,312 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.