AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AIR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of AAR in a research report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on AAR in a research report on Thursday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered AAR from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of AAR in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

AAR Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of AAR stock traded up $1.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $70.61. 253,326 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 397,593. AAR has a 1 year low of $54.71 and a 1 year high of $76.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 252.17 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock's fifty day moving average is $65.52 and its 200 day moving average is $65.19.

AAR (NYSE:AIR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07. AAR had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm had revenue of $686.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $654.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AAR will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sean M. Gillen sold 17,385 shares of AAR stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.33, for a total value of $1,153,147.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,797,383.58. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jessica A. Garascia sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $100,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 37,565 shares in the company, valued at $2,513,098.50. The trade was a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,312 shares of company stock valued at $9,827,284 over the last ninety days. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AAR

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AIR. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in AAR by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,588,893 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $115,513,000 after acquiring an additional 48,630 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AAR in the second quarter worth about $77,754,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in AAR by 13.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 969,741 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $59,591,000 after buying an additional 114,460 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AAR by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,962 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $52,101,000 after buying an additional 27,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in AAR by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 790,267 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $51,652,000 after acquiring an additional 134,215 shares during the last quarter. 90.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AAR

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. The Parts Supply segment leases and sells aircraft components and replacement parts. The Repair & Engineering segment provides airframe maintenance services, such as airframe inspection, painting, line maintenance, airframe modification, structural repair, avionics service and installation, exterior and interior refurbishment, and engineering and support services; component repair services comprising maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, engine and airframe accessories, and interior refurbishment; and landing gear overhaul services, including repair services on wheels and brakes.