Royal Bank of Canada Increases Stock Holdings in Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Ryanair Holdings PLC by 7.3%, now owning approximately 3.9 million shares worth $165.6 million.
• Ryanair recently announced a special dividend of $0.534, an increase from $0.47, with a dividend yield of 120.0%.
• Ryanair's earnings per share for the last quarter was $1.74, surpassing estimates and leading to an average rating of "Buy" from analysts.

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,909,138 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 266,343 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.73% of Ryanair worth $165,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Ryanair by 4.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 5,604,258 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $244,290,000 after purchasing an additional 500,239 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Ryanair by 3.5% during the first quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 4,753,672 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $201,413,000 after purchasing an additional 160,542 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new stake in shares of Ryanair during the first quarter worth about $118,071,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,034,561 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $43,834,000 after purchasing an additional 54,439 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Ryanair Stock Performance

NASDAQ RYAAY traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $60.51. 612,387 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,511,180. The firm has a market cap of $32.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $61.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.67. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a fifty-two week low of $38.52 and a fifty-two week high of $67.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The transportation company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ryanair Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.534 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 120.0%. This is a positive change from Ryanair's previous special dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Ryanair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on RYAAY. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oddo Bhf upgraded shares of Ryanair from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Ryanair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $76.00.

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.