Capital International Investors Acquires 308,330 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,949,976 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 308,330 shares during the quarter. Royal Caribbean Cruises comprises approximately 1.7% of Capital International Investors’ holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Capital International Investors owned approximately 0.12% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $10,662,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after buying an additional 6,063 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on RCL. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $290.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $304.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.83. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $164.01 and a 52 week high of $366.50.

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

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 issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total value of $76,475,593.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,435,910 shares in the company, valued at $5,120,443,401.40. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total value of $2,562,053.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,695,121.06. The trade was a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. Insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

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.