Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 17,418 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 139% compared to the average daily volume of 7,295 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Finally, Mizuho set a $379.00 target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after acquiring an additional 6,063 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.4% during the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 75.1% during the second quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.3% in the second quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 6.7%

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $347.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $94.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12-month low of $164.01 and a 12-month high of $366.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $289.35 and a 200 day moving average of $303.57.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The business had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.62%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.