Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Raised to “Buy” at Loop Capital

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) was upgraded by analysts at Loop Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $250.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.24% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on RCL. UBS Group increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 7.0 %

RCL opened at $215.08 on Wednesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 1-year low of $124.24 and a 1-year high of $277.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $243.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The stock has a market cap of $57.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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 buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 over the last ninety days. 7.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 85.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter worth about $182,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 48.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 126,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.7% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,956 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is 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.