Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Purchases New Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on RCL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. StockNews.com raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.53.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 7.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 0.2 %

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $214.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $125.06 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.