Dorsey Wright & Associates Has $9.07 Million Stock Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,014 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,026 shares during the period. Royal Caribbean Cruises comprises 2.0% of Dorsey Wright & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $9,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth approximately $1,021,893,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,604,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,270,252,000 after acquiring an additional 929,414 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 163.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,101,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,515,000 after acquiring an additional 683,896 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 560.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 676,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,949,000 after purchasing an additional 574,256 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $172,488,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $277.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $75.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $298.58. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-week 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.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total value of $29,710,297.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 218,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,513,217.82. The trade was a 29.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was 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 represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have 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 insiders.

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.