Ruffer LLP Sells 390,980 Shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY

Key Points

• Ruffer LLP reduced its stake in Ryanair Holdings PLC by 29.6%, selling 390,980 shares during the 2nd quarter, leaving it with 931,799 shares.
• Ryanair announced a special dividend of $0.534 per share, an increase from its previous dividend of $0.47, to be paid on September 25th.
• Analyst ratings for Ryanair show a mix of opinions, with the stock being rated as "buy" or "strong-buy" by several brokerages, and a target price of $76.00 set by Raymond James Financial.

Ruffer LLP reduced its stake in shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 931,799 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 390,980 shares during the period. Ryanair makes up approximately 2.4% of Ruffer LLP's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Ruffer LLP owned 0.18% of Ryanair worth $53,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RYAAY. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in Ryanair during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,661,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Ryanair during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,937,000. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Ryanair by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,006 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Ryanair during the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Ryanair by 350.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 58,269 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,540,000 after buying an additional 45,337 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on RYAAY. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ryanair from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Oddo Bhf raised shares of Ryanair from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ryanair currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

Ryanair Price Performance

NASDAQ:RYAAY opened at $56.69 on Thursday. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 1-year low of $38.52 and a 1-year high of $67.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.37.

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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryanair Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.534 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This is a positive change from Ryanair's previous special dividend of $0.47. Ryanair's payout ratio is 16.67%.

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.

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