Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 36,096 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 615,073 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,096 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $199,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth about $31,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $334.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, December 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $286.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $342.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $350.00 target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.68.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $300.98 on Tuesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-week high of $366.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $273.09 and a 200 day moving average of $307.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.94.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.16 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 44.68% and a net margin of 23.33%.The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.20 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.580-15.630 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.740-2.790 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 26.90%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total value of $309,936.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,010,571.84. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Profile

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.