Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 10,755 Shares of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 489,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 10,755 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.36% of AAR worth $29,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of AAR in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its holdings in shares of AAR by 133.3% in the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 1,400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings 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 worth $87,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AAR by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,711 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of AAR in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors own 90.74% of the company’s stock.

AAR Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of AIR opened at $61.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 220.85 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.06. AAR Corp. has a twelve month low of $54.71 and a twelve month high of $76.34.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $686.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $654.47 million. AAR had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AAR Corp. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AAR

In other AAR news, CAO Jessica A. Garascia sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $100,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 37,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,513,098.50. This represents a 3.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 33,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total transaction of $2,357,062.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,449,913.60. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,793 shares of company stock valued at $12,538,396 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of AAR from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of AAR in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

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.