Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Sold by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,108 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,489 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $22,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. GGM Financials LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 318.8% in the third quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 38.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 214 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $290.96 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company has a market cap of $78.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.40 and its 200-day simple moving average 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total transaction of $453,144.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,203,935.82. This trade represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 16,435,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,120,443,401.40. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935 in the last 90 days. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on RCL. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $368.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.29.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company 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.