Q4 EPS Forecast for Royal Caribbean Cruises Cut by Analyst

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) – Equities research analysts at William Blair dropped their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report issued on Wednesday, January 22nd. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $1.46 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.47. The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ current full-year earnings is $11.66 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Q1 2025 earnings at $2.41 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.83 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.75 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.45 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $180.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.13.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $238.40 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a one year low of $113.10 and a one year high of $258.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 0.50 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.71.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 52.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 6,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.51, for a total value of $1,401,812.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,964 shares in the company, valued at $2,077,593.64. This represents a 40.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.89, for a total value of $33,150,685.17. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,167,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,868,240.23. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 404,332 shares of company stock worth $94,299,521. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.53% 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.