William Blair Brokers Lift Earnings Estimates for RCL

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) - Research analysts at William Blair raised their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report issued on Monday, April 21st. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $3.98 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $3.85. The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises' current full-year earnings is $14.90 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises' Q3 2025 earnings at $5.85 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $15.07 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $17.77 EPS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a "hold" rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $273.84.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

NYSE RCL opened at $199.99 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 $53.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.09. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52-week low of $130.08 and a 52-week high of $277.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Legacy Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the company's stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 168,081 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,531,000 after buying an additional 18,352 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 152.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 5,575 shares during the period. CV Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter valued at $1,027,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter worth about $89,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total transaction of $4,447,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,021,265.74. The trade was a 28.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. Insiders own 7.95% of the company's stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.