Aercap Holdings N.V. $AER Stock Position Reduced by KBC Group NV

Key Points

• KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in Aercap by 3.1% in Q4, selling 30,912 shares and now holds 970,121 shares (about a 0.52% stake) valued at roughly $139.5 million.
• Earnings beat: Aercap reported Q results with EPS of $3.95 versus $3.31 expected and revenue of $2.36 billion versus $2.07 billion, while analysts forecast roughly 11.29 EPS for the year.
• Dividend increase and positive analyst view: the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.40 ($1.60 annualized, 1.1% yield) and Wall Street ratings skew positive (8 Buys, 2 Holds) with an average target around $153.38 and several firms raising targets to $160–$162.

KBC Group NV decreased its stake in Aercap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 970,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,912 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.52% of Aercap worth $139,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AER. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Aercap during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aercap during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Aercap during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Aercap by 26.6% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Aercap by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 359 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.42% of the company's stock.

Aercap Price Performance

NYSE AER opened at $147.44 on Thursday. Aercap Holdings N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $93.28 and a fifty-two week high of $154.94. The stock's 50-day moving average is $142.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.03. The firm has a market cap of $24.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.64. Aercap had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 44.04%.The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Aercap Holdings N.V. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aercap Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AER has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Aercap in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aercap from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Aercap from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Aercap in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aercap has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $153.38.

About Aercap

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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