Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $88.99 Million Stock Holdings in AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in AAR Corp. by 10.3% during Q1, now owning approximately 1,589,320 shares valued at $88.99 million.
• Several hedge funds also raised their holdings in AAR, with notable increases from LPL Financial (13.3% boost) and JPMorgan Chase (215.9% boost) during the last quarter.
• AAR Corp. reported a strong quarterly performance with $1.16 EPS, exceeding estimates, and a revenue increase of 15% year-over-year.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,589,320 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 148,166 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 4.40% of AAR worth $88,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AAR by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,070,618 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $65,607,000 after purchasing an additional 127,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AAR by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 799,766 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $49,020,000 after acquiring an additional 2,804 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its holdings in AAR by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 510,814 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $28,600,000 after acquiring an additional 20,654 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in AAR by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 480,338 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $29,436,000 after acquiring an additional 15,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in AAR by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 389,313 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $23,858,000 after acquiring an additional 39,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AIR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on AAR from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Truist Financial upped their price target on AAR from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised AAR from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on AAR from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AAR presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jessica A. Garascia sold 3,631 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.08, for a total transaction of $279,877.48. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 39,117 shares in the company, valued at $3,015,138.36. This represents a 8.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.70, for a total value of $717,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,409,835.10. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,182 shares of company stock valued at $7,331,452 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

AAR Price Performance

Shares of AIR stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $71.99. The company had a trading volume of 274,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,223. AAR Corp. has a 12 month low of $46.51 and a 12 month high of $86.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 218.17 and a beta of 1.53. The firm's fifty day moving average is $71.46 and its 200 day moving average is $64.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.72.

AAR (NYSE:AIR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The aerospace company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.16. AAR had a return on equity of 11.66% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company had revenue of $754.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AAR Corp. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AAR Profile

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. The Parts Supply segment leases and sells aircraft components and replacement parts. The Repair & Engineering segment provides airframe maintenance services, such as airframe inspection, painting, line maintenance, airframe modification, structural repair, avionics service and installation, exterior and interior refurbishment, and engineering and support services; component repair services comprising maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, engine and airframe accessories, and interior refurbishment; and landing gear overhaul services, including repair services on wheels and brakes.