AAR (NYSE:AIR) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of AAR (NYSE:AIR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of AAR in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

AAR Stock Performance

AAR stock opened at $67.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.68. AAR has a one year low of $54.71 and a one year high of $76.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 240.26 and a beta of 1.61.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $686.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $654.47 million. AAR had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AAR will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 33,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total transaction of $2,357,062.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 63,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,449,913.60. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total transaction of $354,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 341,680 shares in the company, valued at $24,194,360.80. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,793 shares of company stock valued at $12,538,396 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AAR

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in AAR in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AAR in the 4th quarter worth about $6,849,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in AAR by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in AAR by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in AAR by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,125 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,976,000 after purchasing an additional 19,863 shares during the last quarter. 90.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AAR Company 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.