Northern Trust Corp Raises Stake in Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp significantly increased its stake in Ryanair Holdings PLC by 98.8% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.07% of the company, valued at $15.15 million.
• Ryanair has received several upgrades from brokerages, with Wall Street Zen raising its rating to "strong-buy" and Raymond James Financial increasing the price target from $70.00 to $76.00.
• The company announced a special dividend of $0.534 to be paid on September 25th, representing a yield of 120.0%, up from the previous special dividend of $0.47.

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) by 98.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 357,576 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 177,674 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Ryanair worth $15,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RYAAY. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ryanair by 4.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,324,514 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,242,480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233,059 shares during the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new position in Ryanair in the first quarter worth approximately $11,785,000. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in Ryanair in the first quarter worth approximately $11,761,000. Polunin Capital Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Ryanair in the first quarter valued at approximately $8,342,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Ryanair by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 548,227 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $23,897,000 after purchasing an additional 188,575 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on RYAAY. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Oddo Bhf upgraded shares of Ryanair from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

Ryanair Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RYAAY opened at $62.09 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $38.52 and a twelve month high of $67.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.46. The stock has a market cap of $32.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The transportation company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.25. Ryanair had a return on equity of 27.91% and a net margin of 14.42%.The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. On average, research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.534 dividend. This is an increase from Ryanair's previous special dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 120.0%. Ryanair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.55%.

Ryanair 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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