Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Sells 16,984 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP trimmed its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,113 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,984 shares during the quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $7,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,865,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total value of $29,710,297.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 218,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,513,217.82. This trade represents a 29.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total value of $113,355,118.14. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,681,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,311,186,488.54. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $262.45 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $301.51 and its 200 day moving average is $297.50. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $164.01 and a fifty-two week high of $366.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.18.

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

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Tigress Financial upped 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, February 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.52.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.