First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 842 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in AerCap were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC grew its stake in AerCap by 95.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 91,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,687,000 after purchasing an additional 44,797 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in AerCap by 271.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 6,211 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in AerCap by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 19,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after buying an additional 979 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in AerCap in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in AerCap during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,007,000. 96.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AER has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AerCap from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AerCap from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America increased their target price on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.00.

AerCap Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AER opened at $109.48 on Friday. AerCap Holdings has a 52-week low of $82.21 and a 52-week high of $109.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $100.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.04. The firm has a market cap of $20.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.69 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. AerCap’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.29 EPS. Research analysts predict that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AerCap declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.58%.

AerCap 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.