Royce & Associates LP Makes New Investment in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,491,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of AerCap by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,601,208 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $545,726,000 after purchasing an additional 282,980 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in AerCap by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,862,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $460,579,000 after buying an additional 370,906 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in AerCap by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,802,000 after buying an additional 86,548 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in AerCap by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,550,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,068,000 after buying an additional 167,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of AerCap by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,737,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $164,574,000 after acquiring an additional 22,346 shares during the period. 96.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group cut shares of AerCap to an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AerCap currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $117.43.

AerCap Price Performance

Shares of AER stock traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $102.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 900,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,269,874. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $99.07 and a 200-day moving average of $96.81. AerCap Holdings has a twelve month low of $81.93 and a twelve month high of $107.36. The stock has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83.

AerCap (NYSE:AER - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from AerCap's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. AerCap's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.99%.

AerCap declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Profile

AerCap Holdings N.V. engages in the lease, financing, sale, and management of commercial flight equipment in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, Ireland, and internationally. The company offers aircraft asset management services, such as remarketing aircraft and engines; collecting rental and maintenance rent payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft and engines; and conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews.