Metropolis Capital Ltd Acquires 36,559 Shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY

Key Points

• Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its stake in Ryanair Holdings PLC by 0.8% in Q2, acquiring an additional 36,559 shares, bringing their total holdings to approximately 4.79 million shares valued at around $276 million.
• Ryanair recently announced a special dividend of $0.534 per share, a rise from the previous special dividend of $0.47, highlighting a payout ratio currently at 16.90%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Ryanair, with Goldman Sachs downgrading it to "neutral," while Raymond James upgraded its target price to $76.00, showing differing perspectives on the stock's performance.

Metropolis Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,790,231 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,559 shares during the period. Ryanair comprises about 8.8% of Metropolis Capital Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd owned about 0.90% of Ryanair worth $276,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Ryanair by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,324,514 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,242,480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,059 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Ryanair by 7.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,909,138 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $165,630,000 after buying an additional 266,343 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in shares of Ryanair in the first quarter valued at approximately $118,071,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ryanair by 5.6% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,034,561 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $43,834,000 after acquiring an additional 54,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 30.4% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 994,753 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $42,148,000 after acquiring an additional 232,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on RYAAY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Ryanair in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oddo Bhf raised Ryanair from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Ryanair from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ryanair from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Ryanair Stock Down 1.9%

Ryanair stock opened at $59.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company's 50-day moving average is $61.75 and its 200-day moving average is $55.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.38. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a fifty-two week low of $38.52 and a fifty-two week high of $67.18.

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

Ryanair Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.534 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This is a positive change from Ryanair's previous special dividend of $0.47. Ryanair's payout ratio is presently 16.90%.

Ryanair Company Profile

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.

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