Aercap (NYSE:AER) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup started coverage on shares of Aercap (NYSE:AER) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $173.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

AER has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research lowered Aercap from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Aercap from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Aercap from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aercap from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aercap from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.67.

Aercap Stock Performance

Aercap stock opened at $150.80 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. Aercap has a twelve month low of $105.65 and a twelve month high of $155.99. The company has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.94.

Aercap (NYSE:AER) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The financial services provider reported $5.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter. Aercap had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 45.22%. Research analysts expect that Aercap will post 17.39 EPS for the current year.

Aercap announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aercap Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Aercap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AER. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Aercap by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 237,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,678,000 after buying an additional 12,235 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Aercap by 321.1% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 47,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,954,000 after buying an additional 36,373 shares during the period. Steadtrust LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aercap by 1.9% during the second quarter. Steadtrust LLC now owns 14,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aercap by 4.2% during the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in Aercap by 5.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 39,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Aercap

Here are the key news stories impacting Aercap this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AerCap announced a direct order for 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which will expand its 787 fleet to about 140 aircraft and signals continued demand for its leasing portfolio. AerCap Announces Order for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup initiated coverage with a buy rating and a $173 price target, while Zacks Research upgraded the stock from hold to strong-buy, reinforcing a more favorable analyst view. Citigroup coverage and price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional coverage around the Boeing order at Farnborough and in industry publications is likely helping keep the story in focus, but these reports mainly repeat the same core announcement rather than add new financial details. Day Two: Boeing Wins More Widebody Business as PAL Returns to Airbus

About Aercap

AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER) is a global aircraft leasing and aviation finance company that acquires, leases, sells and manages commercial aircraft and engines. Its core services include operating leases, finance leases, sale-and-leaseback transactions, aircraft trading and remarketing, and asset management for airline customers. The company also provides related commercial and technical support services designed to optimize fleet utilization and residual values over the life cycle of aircraft and engines.

Operating with a broad global footprint, AerCap serves airlines and other aviation customers across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.