Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 70,829 Shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,619,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,829 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AerCap were worth $153,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AerCap by 5.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in AerCap by 8.3% during the third 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. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in AerCap by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,802,000 after acquiring an additional 86,548 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of AerCap by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,550,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,068,000 after acquiring an additional 167,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AerCap in the fourth quarter worth about $218,517,000. 96.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Susquehanna lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of AerCap to an “underperform” 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.43.

AerCap Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AER opened at $89.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.27. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.09, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.46. AerCap Holdings has a 52 week low of $81.93 and a 52 week high of $107.36.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. On average, analysts expect that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This is an increase from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.99%.

AerCap announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management 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.