Royal Caribbean Cruises Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:RCL)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 17,418 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 139% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,295 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RCL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $379.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $347.81.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 5.5%

RCL stock traded up $18.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $344.13. 734,984 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,462,653. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $287.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $303.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.18. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 25.62%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 184.4% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, SRH Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.