Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Holdings in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER - Free Report) by 10.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 609,833 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 58,371 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.33% of AerCap worth $62,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AER. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AerCap in the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,517,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in AerCap by 139.1% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,505,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $144,105,000 after buying an additional 875,950 shares during the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP raised its stake in AerCap by 118.8% during the 4th quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP now owns 1,398,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $133,789,000 after buying an additional 759,000 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in AerCap by 190.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,074,931 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $102,871,000 after buying an additional 705,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in AerCap by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,396,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $133,687,000 after buying an additional 664,990 shares during the last quarter. 96.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AER. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of AerCap from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AerCap from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AerCap from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered AerCap to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AerCap has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $119.25.

AerCap Price Performance

AerCap stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $115.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,268,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,379,305. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm's 50 day moving average is $107.34 and its 200 day moving average is $101.18. AerCap Holdings has a one year low of $82.21 and a one year high of $118.07.

AerCap (NYSE:AER - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.99. AerCap had a net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.29 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AerCap declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AerCap Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. AerCap's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.58%.

AerCap 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.