Essex Savings Bank Makes New $207,000 Investment in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Essex Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RCL. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 8,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,000,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,000. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $233.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.81. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $113.10 and a 12 month high of $258.70.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.15. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 52.92%. The company had revenue of $4.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 11.65 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 22.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.02, for a total value of $5,250,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 204,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,953,500.42. The trade was a 10.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.89, for a total transaction of $33,150,685.17. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,167,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,868,240.23. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 404,332 shares of company stock valued at $94,299,521. 7.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on RCL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $189.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.25.

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.