Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Stake Lifted by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,115 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,977 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $6,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 794 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on RCL shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $360.00 target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 51,131 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.39, for a total value of $16,739,778.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 28,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,204,897.24. This represents a 64.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 180,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.09, for a total transaction of $58,516,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,887,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,815,049,650.63. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 515,722 shares of company stock worth $168,242,004. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board upgrade: Royal Caribbean appointed Christopher J. Wiernicki (former Chairman & CEO of American Bureau of Shipping) to its board, which adds industry regulatory and maritime expertise that could benefit long‑term operations and safety/governance oversight. Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/media attention: Forbes published a take weighing RCL as potentially undervalued given growth, cash flow and margins, while Zacks highlighted increased investor attention and momentum scores — coverage that can attract buyers but is not a near‑term catalyst by itself. Forbes Article Zacks Article
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider selling — Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 180,000 shares on Feb. 17 (~$58.5M) and 100,000 shares on Feb. 13 (~$32.7M). Massive sales by a director can put downward pressure on the stock and raise short‑term concern about insider conviction. Wilhelmsen SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider disposals — Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares (~$2.56M) and director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares (~$453k) on Feb. 17. Multiple insider sales in the same window amplify selling signal to the market. Bethge SEC Filing Gomez Montiel SEC Filing

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 1.4%

RCL stock opened at $319.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $300.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.15. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-week high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The company’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.