Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 7,740 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 291,027 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,740 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $67,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter worth $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on RCL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Macquarie raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. This trade represents a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $263.97 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $113.10 and a 12 month high of $277.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.58%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.