AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) Shares Bought by PFG Advisors

PFG Advisors raised its position in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in AerCap were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AER. Darsana Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of AerCap during the third quarter worth about $94,720,000. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in AerCap in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,526,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in AerCap by 137.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 834,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,857,000 after buying an additional 483,564 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AerCap by 896.4% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 391,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,467,000 after purchasing an additional 352,215 shares during the last quarter. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AerCap Stock Up 2.3 %

AerCap stock opened at $101.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83. AerCap Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $81.93 and a fifty-two week high of $107.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $97.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.37.

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

AerCap announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.