Moors & Cabot Inc. Acquires 3,580 Shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 77.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,580 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in AerCap were worth $785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AerCap by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,100,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,298,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 86,548 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in AerCap by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AerCap by 896.4% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 391,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,467,000 after buying an additional 352,215 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AerCap by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 73,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,039,000 after buying an additional 3,756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AER has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna upped their price target 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.43.

AerCap Stock Performance

NYSE AER opened at $101.37 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AerCap Holdings has a 1 year low of $81.93 and a 1 year high of $107.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Analysts predict that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AerCap announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. AerCap’s payout ratio is presently 9.99%.

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.