Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 on April 4th

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share on Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has a dividend payout ratio of 17.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Royal Caribbean Cruises to earn $17.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.1%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $228.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $61.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1 year low of $124.24 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $244.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Macquarie increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $47,491,190.28. This trade represents a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. The trade was a 41.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 in the last 90 days. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,312 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.