Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,102 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10,599.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 409,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,696,000 after purchasing an additional 406,048 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter worth about $1,224,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $234.16 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $244.35 and a 200-day moving average of $213.32. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $119.48 and a 52 week high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost 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%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 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 the company’s 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 owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at $5,539,648.30. The trade was a 41.48 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.