AGF Management Ltd. Buys 3,511 Shares of AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,100,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,511 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd. owned 0.56% of AerCap worth $105,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AER. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in AerCap by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of AerCap by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of AerCap by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AerCap by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Williamson Legacy Group LLC boosted its stake in AerCap by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 10,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. 96.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AerCap Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AER opened at $95.25 on Tuesday. 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 Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $80.90 and a fifty-two week high of $107.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a PE ratio of 7.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.33.

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

AerCap declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. AerCap’s payout ratio is 9.99%.

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.