Three Royal Stocks Worth a Look (RDS.A, RCL, CCK)

The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is almost here, and there's no escaping the brouhaha. It seems like everyone is trying to make a buck off the royal nuptials. With that in mind, here are three "royal" stocks that may be worth a look now. Royal Dutch Shell Perhaps the biggest "royal" stock of them all is Royal Dutch Shell RDS. The oil giant posted first-quarter results today, with both earnings and revenue up nearly a third from a year ago. Shell did hold the quarterly dividend at $0.42 per ordinary share, though. Earnings in most recent quarters have topped consensus forecasts. Though the long-range EPS growth forecast is only 4.0%, that is in the same ballpark as competitors BP BP and Chevron CVX. Headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell explores for and extracts crude oil and natural gas. It has approximately 9,000 kilometers of pipeline, 2,500 storage tanks and 250 distribution facilities; and its fuels retail network has around 43,000 service stations. Second in size only to Exxon Mobil XOM, Shell operates in 90 countries, produces refined products and chemicals at 30 refineries, transports natural gas, trades gas and electricity, and develops renewable energy sources. The stock is trading at 12.8x current 2011 earnings estimates. Despite downgrades from Fitch and Benchmark earlier this month, analysts on average recommend buying Shell. Shares are trading near a multi-year high, and at $77.50, the share price is up about 16% year-to-date. The stock has outperformed the broader market and BP during that period. Royal Caribbean Cruises The world's second largest cruise line, Royal Caribbean RCL today offered cautious guidance due to high fuel prices and geopolitical instability. The company operates 38 ships in ports from Alaska to the Caribbean, Australia and the Mediterranean. And it owns five cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises and CDF Croisieres de France. In February, Royal Caribbean said that it would be adding "next-generation" ships to its fleet in an initiative code named "Project Sunshine." Royal Caribbean posted first-quarter earnings of $0.42 per share, which easily topped consensus estimates of $0.13. Earnings results have been better than expected in the past four quarters, and the long-term EPS growth forecast is 25.1%. The company also reported that revenues for the first quarter totaled $1.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion a year ago. The stock is trading at 18.7x 2011 earnings estimates, which is less than the industry average. The 0.4 PEG ratio suggests undervaluation. The consensus recommendation is to buy RCL, with a mean price target of $51.52. The share price hit a 52-week high of $49.99 early in the year and has since pulled back nearly 20%. That means the stock has underperformed the broader market. Note though that the performance is more or less in step with that of competitor Carnival CCL. Crown Holdings Philadelphia-based Crown Holdings CCK is a leading global manufacturer of consumer packaging. It is known for beverage cans, aerosol cans, and steel containers, and clients include Coca-Cola KO, Heinz HNZ, Unilever UL and Procter & Gamble PG. Crown operates more than 130 plants in some 40 countries across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. In the first quarter, Crown expanded its beverage can production in Vietnam, selected a plant location in Brazil and elected a new board member. During that time, Longbow upgraded the stock to a buy, Jefferies initiated it with buy and Deutsche Bank boosted its price target. The consensus recommendation has been to buy CCK for more than 90 days. Crown reported that, excluding one-time items, its first-quarter net income rose 60% from a year ago, topping analysts' estimates. Net sales for the quarter grew to $1.9 billion from $1.8 billion last year. Per-share earnings have not fallen short of consensus estimates in the past five quarters. The long-term EPS growth forecast is 12.9%. The stock is trading at 15.3x full-year earnings estimates, which is less than the industry average. Shares have traded between $36 and $40 since early February, but the stock still has outperformed the broader market in the past three months.