Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,100,000 shares, a drop of 28.3% from the August 15th total of 15,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 4.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on RCL. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $165.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $145.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $168.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.13.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.4 %

RCL traded up $2.39 on Friday, reaching $167.96. 1,379,820 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,504,721. The company has a market cap of $43.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 2.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $159.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.94. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52-week low of $78.35 and a 52-week high of $173.37.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.45. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 16.32% and a return on equity of 52.49%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 11.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.62%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, CFO Naftali Holtz acquired 5,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $140.00 per share, with a total value of $749,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,256 shares in the company, valued at $6,755,840. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CFO Naftali Holtz bought 5,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $140.00 per share, for a total transaction of $749,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,256 shares in the company, valued at $6,755,840. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $919,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,837 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,164.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth $323,251,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 105.7% during the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,512,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,075,000 after acquiring an additional 777,103 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,392,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter worth approximately $66,279,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,048,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,616,000 after purchasing an additional 400,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.