ING Groep NV Purchases New Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 12,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,782,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RCL. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.3% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 14.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10,599.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 409,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,696,000 after purchasing an additional 406,048 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter worth $1,224,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE RCL opened at $234.16 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $244.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.86. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $119.48 and a twelve month high of $277.08. The company has a market capitalization of $63.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. 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 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 firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board 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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. This trade represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 over the last three months. 7.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on RCL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital started 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. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.