AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 792,200 shares, a growth of 28.3% from the December 15th total of 617,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 264,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a report on Friday, October 4th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of AAR in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AAR from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sean M. Gillen sold 17,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.33, for a total value of $1,153,147.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,797,383.58. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 128,427 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.76, for a total transaction of $8,573,786.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 346,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,144,356.80. This trade represents a 27.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 180,793 shares of company stock worth $12,184,346 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AAR

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AAR by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 500,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,693,000 after purchasing an additional 77,974 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of AAR by 269.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,328,000 after buying an additional 48,298 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AAR by 3.2% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,588,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $115,513,000 after buying an additional 48,630 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in AAR by 4.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 22,859 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. Finally, Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC boosted its stake in AAR by 54.3% in the second quarter. Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC now owns 30,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after acquiring an additional 10,562 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.74% of the company’s stock.

AAR Price Performance

NYSE:AIR traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.25. 165,600 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 262,787. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 250.91 and a beta of 1.61. AAR has a 12 month low of $54.71 and a 12 month high of $76.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $65.77 and a 200 day moving average of $65.22.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07. AAR had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The business had revenue of $686.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $654.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. AAR’s revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AAR will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AAR

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. The Parts Supply segment leases and sells aircraft components and replacement parts. The Repair & Engineering segment provides airframe maintenance services, such as airframe inspection, painting, line maintenance, airframe modification, structural repair, avionics service and installation, exterior and interior refurbishment, and engineering and support services; component repair services comprising maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, engine and airframe accessories, and interior refurbishment; and landing gear overhaul services, including repair services on wheels and brakes.