Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Receives $154.67 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $154.67.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Ryanair from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group lowered Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. HSBC lowered Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Ryanair from $149.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Ryanair to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Ryanair Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of RYAAY opened at $112.68 on Thursday. Ryanair has a 1 year low of $87.18 and a 1 year high of $150.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($1.20). The business had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. Ryanair had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 12.07%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ryanair will post 7.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ryanair Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.692 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Ryanair by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,422,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,099,700,000 after acquiring an additional 3,734,770 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Ryanair by 30.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,085,927 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,759,590,000 after buying an additional 2,791,513 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Ryanair by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,453,075 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,100,716,000 after acquiring an additional 183,584 shares during the period. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,168,162 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $368,901,000 after acquiring an additional 368,800 shares during the period. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd boosted its position in Ryanair by 33.3% during the second quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 1,444,041 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $168,144,000 after purchasing an additional 360,917 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.66% of the company’s stock.

About Ryanair

Ryanair Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled-passenger airline services in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and internationally. It is also involved in the provision of various ancillary services, such as non-flight scheduled and Internet-related services, as well as in-flight sale of beverages, food, duty-free, and merchandise; and markets car hire, travel insurance, and accommodation services through its website and mobile app.