Howard Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 27.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,478 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,674,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,890,943,000 after buying an additional 602,447 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 21.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,991,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,487,000 after buying an additional 535,043 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter valued at approximately $358,614,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,332,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,786,000 after acquiring an additional 59,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 14.9% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 992,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,915,000 after acquiring an additional 128,530 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 4.3%

NYSE RCL opened at $280.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $76.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $327.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.83. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $164.01 and a 12-month high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.16 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 44.68% and a net margin of 23.33%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.20 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.580-15.630 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 2.740-2.790 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 25th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.99%.

Insider Activity

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.02, for a total transaction of $4,976,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 150,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,743,506.82. This trade represents a 9.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total transaction of $3,399,412.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,414,966.28. This represents a 38.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $367.00 to $357.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $330.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $235.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.95.

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.