Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

ERJ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group downgraded Embraer from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Embraer to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Embraer from $40.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Embraer Price Performance

ERJ stock opened at $49.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37 and a beta of 1.71. Embraer has a one year low of $20.74 and a one year high of $52.00.

Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The aerospace company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.47. Embraer had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. On average, analysts predict that Embraer will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Embraer by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 177,602 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,514,000 after acquiring an additional 8,938 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Embraer by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 84,451 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 10,665 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Embraer by 33.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 75,219 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 18,656 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Embraer during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,611,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in Embraer during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $981,000. 34.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Embraer

Embraer SA designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircraft and systems in North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Commercial Aviation; Defense & Security; Executive Aviation; Services & Support; and Other segments. The Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, manufactures, and sells commercial jets, as well as leases aircraft.