Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,519,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,480 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $350,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RCL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 85.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter valued at $182,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 126,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $231.33 on Thursday. 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 Ltd. has a 52 week low of $124.24 and a 52 week high of $277.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $244.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS 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 period last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.53.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This trade represents a 41.48 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

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.