Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY Shares Bought by Capital World Investors

Key Points

• Capital World Investors boosted its Ryanair stake by 9.3% in Q3, buying 2,626,911 shares to hold 30,738,934 shares (about 5.82% of the company) valued at roughly $1.85 billion.
• Other institutions also increased exposure — Capital International Investors now owns 37,465,187 shares (~$2.25B), Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Baird made sizable purchases, and hedge funds/institutions collectively own 43.66% of Ryanair.
• Ryanair recently beat estimates (Q earnings: $0.26 EPS vs $0.18 expected; revenue $3.77B vs $3.16B), paid a special dividend of $0.4545, and trades with a market cap of $33.06B and a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy (price target $73.50).

Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,738,934 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 2,626,911 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned 5.82% of Ryanair worth $1,851,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Ryanair by 2.7% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,465,187 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,250,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,457 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ryanair by 658.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,245 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $42,041,000 after purchasing an additional 861,361 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 23.8% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,800,393 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $161,499,000 after buying an additional 539,256 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 43.1% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,423,685 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $82,104,000 after buying an additional 428,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Investments L P acquired a new stake in shares of Ryanair in the second quarter valued at about $24,442,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Ryanair Price Performance

Shares of RYAAY stock opened at $63.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $33.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50-day moving average is $68.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.14. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 12 month low of $38.52 and a 12 month high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. Ryanair had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 29.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Analysts predict that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ryanair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $0.4545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Ryanair's dividend payout ratio is 14.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on RYAAY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.50.

About Ryanair

Ryanair Holdings plc is an Irish low-cost airline group headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1984, the company grew into one of Europe's largest budget carriers by offering point-to-point scheduled passenger services with an emphasis on low fares, high aircraft utilization and rapid turnaround times. Ryanair serves a broad network across Europe and nearby regions, focusing on both intra-European leisure travel and short-haul business routes.

The group primarily operates a single-type fleet based on the Boeing 737 family, supplemented by a mix of in-house and subsidiary airlines that help serve different markets and regulatory environments.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RYAAY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.