Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) PT Lifted to $75 at Nomura; Hiher Prices and Volumes Bode Well for 1Q

Nomura Securities analyst Harry Curtis lowered his price target on Buy-rated Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) to $75.00 (from $72.00) following results.

Curtis commented, "Cruise stocks usually trade higher during 4Q in anticipation of better pricing the following year (barring special events such as sinking, burning, or drifting ships). Positive 2015 booking and price trends should set the stocks up nicely for similar performance this year. Looking at a normalized ten-year period, cruise stocks rally, on average, 7% through 4Q, Fig. 1. However, during period of anticipated yield recovery (like this year) the stocks increase ~10% from October through year-end, Fig. 2. We are increasing our 2015 EPS estimate to $4.67 from $4.51 due to slightly higher net yields and lower fuel costs, which were somewhat offset by less capacity growth, a slightly higher share count, and higher NCCs. We view our revised 2015E EPS as conservative. Our 2016 estimate is unchanged at this point, which may also prove to be conservative. As a result of higher 2015E EPS, we are increasing our 12-month target price to $75 from $72"

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Royal Caribbean Cruises click here. For more ratings news on Royal Caribbean Cruises click here.

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises closed at $62.29 yesterday.

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