AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) Holdings Lifted by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 49,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in AerCap were worth $4,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of AerCap by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 45,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,382,000 after purchasing an additional 13,778 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of AerCap by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 172,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,463,000 after buying an additional 23,279 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AerCap during the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AerCap during the 4th quarter worth $218,517,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of AerCap by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,599,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,027,000 after acquiring an additional 483,428 shares during the last quarter. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AerCap Price Performance

Shares of AER opened at $102.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $19.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83. The business’s 50-day moving average is $99.60 and its 200-day moving average is $97.14. AerCap Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $81.93 and a fifty-two week high of $107.36.

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

AerCap Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.99%.

AerCap announced that its board has authorized 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 repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.