Aercap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) Short Interest Up 22.0% in March

Key Points

• Short interest rose 22.0% in March to 2,055,830 shares, representing about 1.2% of shares outstanding and a days-to-cover ratio of 1.7.
• Analysts are largely bullish on Aercap with eight Buy and two Hold ratings and an average target price of $153.38, alongside recent target increases from Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Deutsche Bank.
• Aercap beat quarterly expectations (EPS $3.95 vs. $3.31; revenue $2.36B vs. $2.07B) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.40 (annualized $1.60, ~1.1% yield).

Aercap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,055,830 shares, a growth of 22.0% from the March 15th total of 1,685,388 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,212,046 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aercap from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $175.00 target price on Aercap and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Aercap from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Aercap in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Aercap in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $153.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aercap

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AER. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Aercap by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Aercap by 282.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 4,919 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Aercap by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Aercap by 43.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 459,459 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,757,000 after purchasing an additional 138,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aercap by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aercap Price Performance

Aercap stock opened at $142.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $23.79 billion, a PE ratio of 6.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.99. Aercap has a one year low of $93.28 and a one year high of $154.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.06.

Aercap (NYSE:AER - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.64. Aercap had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 44.04%.The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.31 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aercap will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aercap Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. This is a positive change from Aercap's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Aercap's payout ratio is 7.50%.

Aercap Company Profile

AerCap Holdings N.V. NYSE: AER is a global aircraft leasing and aviation finance company that acquires, leases, sells and manages commercial aircraft and engines. Its core services include operating leases, finance leases, sale-and-leaseback transactions, aircraft trading and remarketing, and asset management for airline customers. The company also provides related commercial and technical support services designed to optimize fleet utilization and residual values over the life cycle of aircraft and engines.

Operating with a broad global footprint, AerCap serves airlines and other aviation customers across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

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