Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $3.28 Million in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 34,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,284,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AER. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in AerCap by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,601,208 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $545,726,000 after buying an additional 282,980 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of AerCap by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 3,097,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $296,463,000 after acquiring an additional 38,264 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of AerCap by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $280,802,000 after acquiring an additional 86,548 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in AerCap by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,550,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,068,000 after purchasing an additional 167,830 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in AerCap in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,517,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AerCap from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of AerCap to an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AerCap presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $118.00.

AerCap Stock Performance

AER stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $106.03. The company had a trading volume of 925,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,404,122. AerCap Holdings has a 1-year low of $82.21 and a 1-year high of $108.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $99.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.54. The firm has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.46.

AerCap (NYSE:AER - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.69 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AerCap declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This is a boost from AerCap's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. AerCap's payout ratio is currently 9.99%.

AerCap Company Profile

AerCap Holdings N.V. engages in the lease, financing, sale, and management of commercial flight equipment in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, Ireland, and internationally. The company offers aircraft asset management services, such as remarketing aircraft and engines; collecting rental and maintenance rent payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft and engines; and conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews.