Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,358 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 533 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This trade represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at $37,514,907.30. This represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

RCL opened at $213.59 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $125.06 and a 1-year high of $277.08. The stock has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.