AAR (NYSE:AIR) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $61.75, but opened at $66.00. AAR shares last traded at $68.28, with a volume of 121,218 shares.

The aerospace company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. AAR had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $686.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $654.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of AAR in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AAR from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AAR

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in AAR by 18.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 500,200 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $32,693,000 after purchasing an additional 77,974 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of AAR by 269.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,328,000 after acquiring an additional 48,298 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in AAR by 3.2% during the second 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. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in AAR by 4.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 22,859 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AAR during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,330,000. Institutional investors own 90.74% of the company's stock.

AAR Stock Up 8.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 3.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 36.84 and a beta of 1.61. The company's 50-day moving average price is $64.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.29.

AAR Company Profile

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.