Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Short Interest Up 32.6% in March

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 32.6% in March to 2,175,860 shares, equal to about 0.4% of the stock and a short-interest ratio of 1.3 days based on average daily volume.
• Ryanair beat expectations in its latest quarter with EPS of $0.26 vs. $0.18 and revenue of $3.77 billion (vs. $3.16 billion expected), reporting a 15.0% net margin and 29.8% return on equity.
• Shares traded at $62.01 (down 0.9%), the company has a market cap of $32.37 billion and a P/E of 12.45, while analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $75.67 price target.

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,175,860 shares, a growth of 32.6% from the March 15th total of 1,640,387 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,692,672 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.4% of the company's stock are sold short.

Ryanair Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of RYAAY stock traded down $0.54 on Wednesday, hitting $62.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,010,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,481,771. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $63.16 and a 200 day moving average of $65.23. Ryanair has a 12-month low of $44.51 and a 12-month high of $74.24. The stock has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.26.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.16 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 29.76%. As a group, analysts expect that Ryanair will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Ryanair during the third quarter worth $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ryanair by 280.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 472 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ryanair by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 484 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Ryanair by 1,057.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 544 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ryanair by 2,929.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 515 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on RYAAY shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Evercore raised Ryanair from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ryanair presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.67.

Ryanair Company Profile

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.

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