Q2 2017 Earnings Estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Issued By William Blair (NYSE:RCL)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) – Investment analysts at William Blair boosted their Q2 2017 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note issued on Thursday. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now expects that the company will earn $1.64 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.61. William Blair also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Q4 2017 earnings at $1.28 EPS, FY2017 earnings at $7.23 EPS and FY2018 earnings at $8.32 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on RCL. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $126.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 1st. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 1st. J P Morgan Chase & Co upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $111.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $106.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.19.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) opened at 115.74 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 1.06. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a one year low of $65.10 and a one year high of $116.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.45.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 28th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 15.91% and a net margin of 16.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Investors of record on Friday, June 2nd were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 29.68%.

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 967,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,083,768.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 7,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $827,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,263,370. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,527 shares of company stock worth $5,175,770. 15.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eqis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.3% in the second quarter. Eqis Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management Inc. MA boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.4% in the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management Inc. MA now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Cleararc Capital Inc. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.6% in the first quarter. Cleararc Capital Inc. now owns 4,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. BKD Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.1% in the first quarter. BKD Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEXT Financial Group Inc boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.0% in the second quarter. NEXT Financial Group Inc now owns 1,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 71.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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).