AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) Short Interest Down 25.1% in February

AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, a decrease of 25.1% from the February 13th total of 2,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AER has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut shares of AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $119.00 target price on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AerCap has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AerCap

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in AerCap by 5.3% during 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 buying an additional 282,980 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AerCap by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,862,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,579,000 after acquiring an additional 370,906 shares during the period. 59 North Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of AerCap by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 3,704,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,560,000 after acquiring an additional 538,703 shares in the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of AerCap by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 3,097,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,463,000 after acquiring an additional 38,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in shares of AerCap by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,802,000 after purchasing an additional 86,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

AerCap Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AER opened at $101.37 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.43. AerCap has a one year low of $81.93 and a one year high of $107.36.

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

AerCap declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is 9.99%.

About AerCap

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.