Meridian Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 96,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AerCap were worth $9,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AerCap by 59.3% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in AerCap by 66.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 279,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,503,000 after buying an additional 112,084 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in AerCap by 18.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 350,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,236,000 after buying an additional 55,213 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in AerCap during the third quarter valued at $667,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of AerCap by 5.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 282,980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AER shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.17.

AerCap Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AER opened at $103.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.17, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.37 and a 200 day moving average of $96.10. AerCap Holdings has a 1-year low of $76.14 and a 1-year high of $107.36.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.75. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. On average, research analysts expect that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AerCap announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.99%.

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.