Saudi Central Bank Buys 8,272 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Saudi Central Bank grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 86.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,835 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,272 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $5,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 243 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 2,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RCL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $361.00 to $388.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $327.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $350.00 to $337.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $410.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $353.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CEO Michael Bayley sold 12,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.99, for a total value of $4,048,147.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 45,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,313,399.03. This trade represents a 22.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE RCL opened at $265.02 on Monday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $232.10 and a 1-year high of $362.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $297.09 and a 200-day moving average of $287.50. The firm has a market cap of $70.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.74.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 23.54%.Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.38 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.730-17.870 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 6.260-6.360 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 17.78 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.08%.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.