Venturi Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 511.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,157 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 26,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,611 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 38,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,867,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,137,000 after buying an additional 7,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of RCL stock opened at $263.97 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.54. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $113.10 and a twelve month high of $277.08. 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 company has a market capitalization of $70.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 20.58%.

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

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

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.