Legal & General Group Plc Buys 11,116 Shares of Aercap Holdings N.V. $AER

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its Aercap stake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, buying 11,116 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,156,810 shares worth about $166.3 million.
• Aercap reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $5.39 per share on revenue of $2.30 billion, and analysts expect the company to post 17.23 EPS for the full year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share and authorized a $1.0 billion share repurchase plan, while analysts overall maintain a Buy consensus with a target price of $163.13.

Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Aercap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,156,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,116 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.62% of Aercap worth $166,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AER. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP increased its position in shares of Aercap by 45,615.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 3,510,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $424,769,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502,812 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Aercap by 642.7% during the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,111,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $134,498,000 after acquiring an additional 961,890 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Aercap by 118.3% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,390,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $199,850,000 after acquiring an additional 753,259 shares in the last quarter. High Ground Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Aercap during the third quarter worth about $90,571,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Aercap by 178.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,158,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $166,604,000 after acquiring an additional 742,863 shares in the last quarter. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aercap Price Performance

AER stock opened at $141.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.24. Aercap Holdings N.V. has a 52 week low of $105.65 and a 52 week high of $154.94. The firm's fifty day moving average is $140.77 and its 200 day moving average is $141.61. The firm has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.95.

Aercap (NYSE:AER - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The financial services provider reported $5.39 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter. Aercap had a net margin of 45.22% and a return on equity of 16.01%. Research analysts predict that Aercap Holdings N.V. will post 17.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Aercap Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Aercap's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.01%.

Aercap announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AER has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Aercap from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $175.00 target price on shares of Aercap and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Aercap from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Aercap from $162.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aercap from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $163.13.

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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