William Blair Issues Negative Estimate for RCL Earnings

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) – Equities research analysts at William Blair reduced their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, January 22nd. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $1.46 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.47. The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ current full-year earnings is $11.66 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Q1 2025 earnings at $2.41 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.83 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.75 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.45 EPS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 52.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share.

RCL has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $189.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.81.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RCL opened at $232.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 2.59. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1-year low of $113.10 and a 1-year high of $258.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 22.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 25,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.02, for a total value of $5,250,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 204,521 shares in the company, valued at $42,953,500.42. The trade was a 10.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 6,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.51, for a total transaction of $1,401,812.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,964 shares in the company, valued at $2,077,593.64. This represents a 40.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 404,332 shares of company stock worth $94,299,521. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 257.4% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

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.