AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) Short Interest Update

AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, a decrease of 25.1% from the February 13th total of 2,190,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AER has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective on shares of AerCap in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.43.

AerCap Stock Performance

NYSE:AER traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $102.49. 787,170 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,272,848. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. AerCap has a fifty-two week low of $81.93 and a fifty-two week high of $107.36.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last released 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. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. AerCap had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 32.38%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AerCap will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AerCap declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AerCap

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AerCap in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of AerCap in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of AerCap in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AerCap in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of AerCap in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

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.