Royce & Associates LP Invests $1.49 Million in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 15,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,491,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AER. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 282,980 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in AerCap by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,862,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,579,000 after purchasing an additional 370,906 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in AerCap by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,802,000 after buying an additional 86,548 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in AerCap by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,550,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,068,000 after buying an additional 167,830 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of AerCap by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,737,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,574,000 after acquiring an additional 22,346 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lowered shares of AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $119.00 price objective on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AerCap currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.43.

AerCap Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AER opened at $104.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AerCap Holdings has a 1-year low of $81.93 and a 1-year high of $107.36. The company has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.73 and a 200-day moving average of $96.64.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.75. AerCap had a net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AerCap announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. This is a positive change from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AerCap’s payout ratio is currently 9.99%.

AerCap Company Profile

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.