AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,260,000 shares, an increase of 37.8% from the February 28th total of 1,640,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AER has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America raised their price objective on 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.43.

AerCap Trading Down 0.6 %

AerCap stock opened at $102.12 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.14. AerCap has a 52 week low of $81.93 and a 52 week high of $107.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.07 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83. 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 (NYSE:AER) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. Equities research analysts forecast that AerCap will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This is an increase from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is 9.99%.

AerCap declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AER. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AerCap during the fourth quarter worth about $218,517,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of AerCap by 139.1% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,505,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,105,000 after purchasing an additional 875,950 shares in the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of AerCap by 118.8% during the fourth quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP now owns 1,398,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,789,000 after purchasing an additional 759,000 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AerCap by 190.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,074,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,871,000 after purchasing an additional 705,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of AerCap by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,396,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,687,000 after purchasing an additional 664,990 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

AerCap Company Profile

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.