Sheets Smith Wealth Management Takes Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RCL. BTIM Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $328,000. First Quadrant L P CA purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,725,000. Aperio Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.8% in the second quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 52,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,752,000 after buying an additional 3,342 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.0% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.3% in the second quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 71.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) traded down 0.30% during trading on Friday, hitting $114.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,467,887 shares. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $65.10 and a 52-week high of $116.36. The company has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $111.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.88.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.07. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 15.91% and a net margin of 16.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post $7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 31st. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.68%.

Several brokerages recently commented on RCL. J P Morgan Chase & Co raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $111.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday. Zacks Investment Research lowered Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 4th. ValuEngine raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.50 price objective (up previously from $117.50) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $105.31.

In other news, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 7,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $827,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,263,370. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard D. Fain sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.62, for a total value of $2,192,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 967,741 shares in the company, valued at $106,083,768.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,527 shares of company stock worth $5,175,770 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 15.30% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a cruise company. The Company owns and operates three global cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises (Global Brands). The Company also own joint venture interest in the German brand TUI Cruises, interest in the Spanish brand Pullmantur and interest in the Chinese brand SkySea Cruises (collectively, Partner Brands).

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