O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Buys 1,900 Shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AerCap were worth $1,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AER. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in AerCap by 5.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,601,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $545,726,000 after purchasing an additional 282,980 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of AerCap by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,862,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,579,000 after purchasing an additional 370,906 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in shares of AerCap by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,802,000 after buying an additional 86,548 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AerCap during the 4th quarter worth $218,517,000. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna boosted their target price on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (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 report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.43.

AerCap Stock Performance

AER opened at $89.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. AerCap Holdings has a 12-month low of $81.93 and a 12-month high of $107.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $100.01 and a 200-day moving average of $97.30.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.99%.

AerCap declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans 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.