Bank of Nova Scotia Makes New $281,000 Investment in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AER. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of AerCap by 95.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 91,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,687,000 after acquiring an additional 44,797 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AerCap during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,507,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of AerCap in the 3rd quarter worth $2,261,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in AerCap by 271.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,496 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 6,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new stake in AerCap during the third quarter valued at about $3,141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.42% of the company's stock.

AerCap Stock Up 2.4 %

AER traded up $2.31 on Friday, reaching $97.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,686,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,396,842. AerCap Holdings has a 1 year low of $82.21 and a 1 year high of $107.36. The business's 50 day moving average is $99.40 and its 200 day moving average is $97.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.46.

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 business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. AerCap had a net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 13.98%. As a group, research analysts forecast that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

AerCap Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from AerCap's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. AerCap's payout ratio is 9.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AER shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on AerCap from $112.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lowered AerCap to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.14.

About AerCap

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.