AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $117.43.

Several analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna lifted their price target on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lowered AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Institutional Trading of AerCap

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in AerCap by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,601,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $545,726,000 after buying an additional 282,980 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 370,906 shares during the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of AerCap by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 3,704,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,560,000 after acquiring an additional 538,703 shares in the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its stake in AerCap by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 3,097,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,463,000 after purchasing an additional 38,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of AerCap by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,802,000 after purchasing an additional 86,548 shares during the period. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AerCap Stock Performance

Shares of AER opened at $102.12 on Monday. AerCap has a 1 year low of $81.93 and a 1 year high of $107.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.14. The company has a market capitalization of $19.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AerCap will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.99%.

AerCap announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.