Silvant Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Silvant Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,466 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,564 shares during the quarter. Royal Caribbean Cruises comprises approximately 3.1% of Silvant Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Silvant Capital Management LLC owned 0.10% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $90,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

RCL stock opened at $277.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $75.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $303.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total value of $113,355,118.14. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,681,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,311,186,488.54. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,822 shares in the company, valued at $71,513,217.82. This represents a 29.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935 in the last ninety days. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective 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 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.52.

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.