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

Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 77.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in AerCap were worth $785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AER. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in AerCap by 5.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,601,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $545,726,000 after purchasing an additional 282,980 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AerCap by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,862,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,579,000 after buying an additional 370,906 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in shares of AerCap by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,802,000 after buying an additional 86,548 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of AerCap by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,550,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,068,000 after acquiring an additional 167,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of AerCap by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,737,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,574,000 after acquiring an additional 22,346 shares during the period. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AerCap Stock Up 2.3 %

AER stock opened at $101.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.99 and its 200-day moving average is $96.37. AerCap Holdings has a twelve month low of $81.93 and a twelve month high of $107.36. The firm 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for 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%. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. 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 yield of 1.07%. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.99%.

AerCap declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AER has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut shares of AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective on shares of AerCap in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna upped their target price on AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.43.

AerCap 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.