New England Research & Management Inc. Invests $760,000 in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

by · The Cerbat Gem

New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCLFree Report) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at $1,021,893,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,101,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,515,000 after purchasing an additional 683,896 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 560.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 676,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,949,000 after purchasing an additional 574,256 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter worth $172,488,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 91.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,087,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,590,000 after purchasing an additional 520,353 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 3.5%

RCL stock opened at $262.45 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $301.51 and a 200 day moving average of $297.10. The firm has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.87. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $164.01 and a twelve month high of $366.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCLGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The business had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total value of $453,144.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,203,935.82. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total transaction of $76,475,593.04. Following the sale, the director owned 16,435,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,120,443,401.40. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RCL shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.52.

Get Our Latest Report on Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

(Free Report)

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.

Further Reading

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