AAR (NYSE:AIR) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded AAR (NYSE:AIR) from a "buy" to a "strong-buy," and MarketBeat shows a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $131.20.
• AAR beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $1.25 (vs. $1.21) and revenue of $845.1M (vs. $812.6M), with revenue up 24.6% year-over-year and analysts projecting about $4.95 EPS for the year.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently—CEO John McClain Holmes III sold 60,000 shares (~$6.74M) and insiders sold ~106,925 shares (~$11.8M) in the last 90 days—while institutional investors and hedge funds hold roughly 90.7% of the stock.

AAR (NYSE:AIR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Zacks Research lowered AAR from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AAR in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on AAR from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings raised AAR from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $128.00 price target (up from $107.00) on shares of AAR in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AAR currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.20.

AAR Stock Performance

NYSE AIR opened at $110.64 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $113.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.70. AAR has a fifty-two week low of $51.83 and a fifty-two week high of $127.21.

AAR (NYSE:AIR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $845.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.58 million. AAR had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 5.46%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AAR will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AAR

In other news, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total value of $6,744,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 235,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,423,544.24. This represents a 20.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sarah Louise Flanagan sold 10,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.56, for a total value of $1,167,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,565,978.88. This trade represents a 24.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 106,925 shares of company stock worth $11,812,450. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AAR

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new position in AAR during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in AAR during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in AAR during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in AAR during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in AAR during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.74% of the company's stock.

About AAR

AAR Corp. NYSE: AIR is a global provider of aviation products and services to commercial, government and defense customers. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) solutions, component repair and overhaul, and engineering services designed to support a wide variety of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Leveraging FAA and EASA certifications, AAR delivers turnkey maintenance programs and ad hoc repair services that enhance aircraft availability and reliability.

In its Aviation Supply Chain Services segment, AAR sources, stores and distributes parts for both commercial airlines and military operators.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.