Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on RCL. UBS Group boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $168.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $151.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.31.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL traded up $1.82 on Monday, reaching $169.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,078,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,502,338. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 2.61. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12-month low of $78.35 and a 12-month high of $173.40.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.45. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 16.32% and a return on equity of 52.49%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 11.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, CFO Naftali Holtz acquired 5,350 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $140.00 per share, with a total value of $749,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,840. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CFO Naftali Holtz bought 5,350 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $140.00 per share, for a total transaction of $749,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,840. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 3,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $518,445.83. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,388 shares in the company, valued at $4,620,629.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 102,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,197,000 after purchasing an additional 27,819 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Group bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 166,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,577,000 after acquiring an additional 17,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after acquiring an additional 5,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.