Smith Moore & CO. Takes Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Smith Moore & CO. bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 618.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 115 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on RCL. Macquarie raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $253.00 price target (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $276.95.

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Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 a total of 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 in the last 90 days. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $191.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,889,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,359,141. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $125.06 and a one year high of $277.08. The firm has a market cap of $51.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $224.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.