Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.3333.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore upgraded shares of Ryanair from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $79.00 price target on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Monday, June 22nd.

Ryanair Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of RYAAY stock opened at $66.35 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Ryanair has a 1-year low of $53.14 and a 1-year high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The transportation company reported ($0.86) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.09. Ryanair had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 25.58%. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ryanair will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ryanair news, CEO Andreas Gruber sold 13,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $350,276.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $542,516.58. This trade represents a 39.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Jason Paul Mcguinness sold 12,562 shares of Ryanair stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $326,737.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 24,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $632,147.04. The trade was a 34.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 126,607 shares of company stock valued at $3,386,997.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryanair

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capula Management Ltd purchased a new position in Ryanair in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,235,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 151.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 355,617 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,672,000 after buying an additional 213,948 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 10.8% in the first quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 3,949,246 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $228,266,000 after buying an additional 385,444 shares during the last quarter. Maven Securities LTD purchased a new position in shares of Ryanair during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,255,000. Finally, Milford Funds Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ryanair during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,379,000. 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.