Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• Ryanair shares gapped up in pre-market trading, opening at $65.77 versus the prior close of $58.29 and last trading around $65.16 with a volume of 480,494 shares.
• Several analysts have trimmed ratings recently, but the MarketBeat consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $75.67.
• Ryanair beat expectations for the quarter — reporting $0.26 EPS vs. $0.18 est. and $3.77B revenue vs. $3.16B — while institutional investors have been increasing holdings, with about 43.66% of the stock owned by institutions.

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $58.29, but opened at $65.77. Ryanair shares last traded at $65.1640, with a volume of 480,494 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Ryanair from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday. Erste Group Bank lowered Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research lowered Ryanair from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ryanair presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.67.

Ryanair Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.01. The company has a market capitalization of $34.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryanair

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 39,929,929 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,884,834,000 after acquiring an additional 2,464,742 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,051,257 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,241,612,000 after acquiring an additional 312,323 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,304,889 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $527,341,000 after acquiring an additional 985,939 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,567,154 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $401,892,000 after acquiring an additional 117,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,895,021 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $281,182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,666 shares during the last quarter. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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