Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes Position in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 65,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,221,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AerCap by 59.3% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in AerCap by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 446,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,711,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in AerCap by 5.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,601,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $545,726,000 after purchasing an additional 282,980 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of AerCap by 95.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 91,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,687,000 after buying an additional 44,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of AerCap during the 3rd quarter worth $3,478,000. 96.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut shares of AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.43.

AerCap Trading Down 9.3 %

Shares of AER opened at $89.51 on Friday. AerCap Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $81.93 and a fifty-two week high of $107.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a PE ratio of 7.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. As a group, analysts forecast that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is 9.99%.

AerCap announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AerCap 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.