Legal & General Group Plc Raises Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,416,098 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 62,803 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.52% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $458,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after acquiring an additional 6,063 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.7% in the second 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 last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 15.2% during the second quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Royal Caribbean Cruises News

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Celebrity Cruises opened bookings for its 2028 Galapagos expeditions on the Forbes-rated Celebrity Flora — a product launch that supports demand, advance bookings and higher-margin expedition itineraries for RCL’s premium brands. CELEBRITY CRUISES’ 2028 GALAPAGOS EXPEDITIONS ARE OPEN FOR BOOKING
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis shows RCL has outperformed the broader consumer cyclical sector over the past year and analysts remain moderately optimistic about its outlook — supportive for investor confidence if macro headwinds subside. Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock: Is RCL Outperforming the Consumer Cyclical Sector?
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights RCL as a strong value stock on metrics such as valuation and style scores, which may attract value-focused buyers amid recent weakness. Here’s Why Royal Caribbean (RCL) is a Strong Value Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual options activity: investors bought roughly 17,450 put contracts today (about 80% above average). Heavy put buying can signal hedging or speculative bearish bets; the implication for the stock depends on whether this reflects broad negative sentiment or short-term hedging. (No external link)
• Negative Sentiment: Macro pressures — surging oil prices and heightened geopolitical tensions — are being cited as the primary catalysts for the sector-wide selloff, pressuring valuations and raising fuel-cost concerns for cruise operators like RCL. A Look At Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) Valuation As Oil And Geopolitical Risks Pressure Cruise Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage summarizing sector pain shows Carnival, RCL and others were hit as oil and geopolitics roiled the group — reinforcing near-term downside risk until fuel costs or geopolitical risk recede. CCL, RCL, NCLH Stocks Slammed as Oil Prices Surge and Geopolitical Tensions Roil Cruise Sector

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RCL opened at $284.97 on Wednesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $304.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.42. The stock has a market cap of $77.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.87.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its 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 for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RCL. Citigroup increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. 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, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total transaction of $29,710,297.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,822 shares in the company, valued at $71,513,217.82. The trade was a 29.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total transaction of $113,355,118.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,681,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,311,186,488.54. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $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.