Headlands Technologies LLC Sells 9,385 Shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Headlands Technologies LLC reduced its position in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 79.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,385 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in AerCap were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in AerCap in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,517,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in AerCap by 137.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 834,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,857,000 after acquiring an additional 483,564 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AerCap by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,599,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,027,000 after acquiring an additional 483,428 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 370,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AerCap by 896.4% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 391,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,467,000 after purchasing an additional 352,215 shares during the last quarter. 96.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AER. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lowered AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AerCap presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.43.

AerCap Price Performance

Shares of AER opened at $89.51 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.01 and a 200-day moving average of $97.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. AerCap Holdings has a 1 year low of $81.93 and a 1 year high of $107.36.

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

AerCap Increases Dividend

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

AerCap announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.