Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Cut to "Neutral" at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Ryanair has been downgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Despite the downgrade, Ryanair maintains a consensus rating of "Buy" among analysts, with a target price of $76.00 per share.
• The company recently reported earnings of $1.74 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial restated 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ryanair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Oddo Bhf upgraded shares of Ryanair from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ryanair currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Ryanair Stock Performance

Shares of Ryanair stock traded down $1.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $58.68. 1,049,844 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 924,517. The stock's fifty day moving average is $62.07 and its 200 day moving average is $54.16. The stock has a market cap of $31.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ryanair has a 12 month low of $38.52 and a 12 month high of $67.18.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The transportation company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.16 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 14.42% and a return on equity of 27.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ryanair will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RYAAY. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of Ryanair during the 1st quarter valued at about $118,071,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ryanair by 4.4% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,324,514 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,242,480,000 after buying an additional 1,233,059 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ryanair by 658.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,245 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $42,041,000 after buying an additional 861,361 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ryanair by 23.8% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,800,393 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $161,499,000 after buying an additional 539,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ryanair by 43.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Ryanair Company Profile

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.