Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Ryanair from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ryanair in a report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $62.90 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ryanair presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.97.

Ryanair Stock Performance

Shares of RYAAY opened at $55.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.16. Ryanair has a fifty-two week low of $53.14 and a fifty-two week high of $74.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.27.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The transportation company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.18). Ryanair had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 21.23%. The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ryanair will post 3.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason Paul Mcguinness sold 9,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.56, for a total transaction of $275,572.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,245.80. This represents a 41.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jh Hurley sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.24, for a total transaction of $468,600.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 76,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,375,021. This represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Milford Funds Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ryanair by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Milford Funds Ltd. now owns 1,263,847 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $81,834,000 after buying an additional 256,253 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ryanair by 5.4% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 466,733 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,221,000 after buying an additional 23,906 shares during the period. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co increased its stake in shares of Ryanair by 1.6% during the second quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 219,157 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $14,190,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 34.1% during the second quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 139,753 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after acquiring an additional 35,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascentis Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 2,856.6% during the second quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,115 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.66% of the company’s stock.

Ryanair Company Profile

Ryanair Holdings plc is an Irish low-cost airline group headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1984, the company grew into one of Europe’s largest budget carriers by offering point-to-point scheduled passenger services with an emphasis on low fares, high aircraft utilization and rapid turnaround times. Ryanair serves a broad network across Europe and nearby regions, focusing on both intra-European leisure travel and short-haul business routes.

The group primarily operates a single-type fleet based on the Boeing 737 family, supplemented by a mix of in-house and subsidiary airlines that help serve different markets and regulatory environments.