Man Group plc Increases Stock Position in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 36.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,349,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 359,531 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.68% of AerCap worth $129,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 59 North Capital Management LP lifted its position in AerCap by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 3,704,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,560,000 after acquiring an additional 538,703 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP lifted its position in AerCap by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 3,097,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,463,000 after acquiring an additional 38,264 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position 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 last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in AerCap by 7.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AerCap during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,517,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

AerCap Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of AER stock opened at $112.08 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $20.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.29. AerCap Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $82.21 and a fifty-two week high of $113.10.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.99. AerCap had a net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict 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 often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AER shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AerCap from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AerCap from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.25.

AerCap 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.