Shelton Capital Management Increases Stake in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Shelton Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 170.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,973 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in AerCap were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in AerCap by 59.3% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in AerCap by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 446,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,711,000 after acquiring an additional 4,222 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in AerCap by 95.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 91,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,687,000 after purchasing an additional 44,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in AerCap during the third quarter valued at $3,478,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AER. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group downgraded shares of AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AerCap has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.43.

AerCap Stock Up 7.3 %

AER stock opened at $95.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.46. AerCap Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $81.93 and a fifty-two week high of $107.36. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $99.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.14.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is an increase from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.99%.

AerCap announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.