American Century Companies Inc. Invests $248,000 in Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has acquired a new position in Ryanair Holdings PLC, purchasing 5,859 shares valued at approximately $248,000.
• Analysts have maintained a positive outlook for Ryanair, with multiple firms issuing "buy" or "strong-buy" ratings and setting an average price target of $76.00.
• Ryanair recently announced an increase in its special dividend from $0.47 to $0.534, reflecting a yield of 120.0%, to be paid on September 25th.

American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,859 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ryanair by 26.6% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,725 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 1,621 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 1,190.3% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,832 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 5,380 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 19.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 526,540 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $22,310,000 after purchasing an additional 87,532 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 962 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 2.6% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,094 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ryanair Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RYAAY traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $59.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,219,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,861. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 52 week low of $38.52 and a 52 week high of $67.18. The firm has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $62.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.07.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The transportation company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.25. Ryanair had a net margin of 14.42% and a return on equity of 27.91%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ryanair Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.534 dividend. This is a boost from Ryanair's previous special dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a yield of 120.0%. Ryanair's payout ratio is presently 14.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RYAAY. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ryanair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Ryanair in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Oddo Bhf upgraded shares of Ryanair from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

About Ryanair

Ryanair Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled-passenger airline services in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and internationally. It is also involved in the provision of various ancillary services, such as non-flight scheduled and Internet-related services, as well as in-flight sale of beverages, food, duty-free, and merchandise; and markets car hire, travel insurance, and accommodation services through its website and mobile app.