Royce & Associates LP Raises Stock Position in AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 243,560 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,920 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.68% of AAR worth $15,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AIR. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of AAR by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,324 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in AAR by 9.8% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 10,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of AAR by 14.6% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 30,739 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,009,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AAR by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 500,200 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $32,693,000 after buying an additional 77,974 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of AAR by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,319 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 90.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AIR shares. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of AAR from $86.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AAR from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AAR presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.00.

AAR Price Performance

AIR traded down $0.90 on Friday, reaching $66.15. 209,840 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 306,054. AAR Corp. has a twelve month low of $54.71 and a twelve month high of $76.34. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $64.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.65.

AAR (NYSE:AIR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, September 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. AAR had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 2.67%. The business had revenue of $661.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $645.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AAR Corp. will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

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.