J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 581 Shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its stake in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in AerCap were worth $1,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 282,980 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of AerCap by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 38,264 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in AerCap by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,802,000 after purchasing an additional 86,548 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in AerCap by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,550,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,068,000 after purchasing an additional 167,830 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in AerCap in the fourth quarter worth about $218,517,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

AerCap Stock Performance

Shares of AER stock opened at $97.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.46. AerCap Holdings has a 52-week low of $82.21 and a 52-week high of $107.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.27 and its 200 day moving average is $97.19.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.75. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AerCap declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AER has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Susquehanna increased their target price on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of AerCap from $112.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.14.

AerCap Company 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.