Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Board Announces Share Repurchase Program

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

NYSE RCL opened at $256.11 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52 week low of $113.10 and a 52 week high of $277.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $243.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on RCL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total value of $763,922.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,243,287.76. This represents a 12.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 230,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.62, for a total transaction of $53,732,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,556,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,253,633.20. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 372,609 shares of company stock worth $87,647,208 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

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.