Legato Capital Management LLC Invests $984,000 in AAR Corp. $AIR

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,972 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in AAR by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of AAR by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,683 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of AAR by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $918,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of AAR by 4.4% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of AAR in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 90.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AIR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of AAR in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial set a $107.00 price target on shares of AAR in a report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of AAR from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of AAR to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of AAR from $93.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AAR presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 23,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $2,292,418.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 65,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,382,881.45. The trade was a 26.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sarah Louise Flanagan sold 10,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.56, for a total value of $1,167,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,565,978.88. This represents a 24.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 128,984 shares of company stock worth $12,517,090. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AAR Stock Performance

NYSE:AIR opened at $116.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.88 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.92. AAR Corp. has a twelve month low of $46.51 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 6th. The aerospace company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. AAR had a net margin of 3.17% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $795.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AAR Corp. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AAR Profile

AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) is a global provider of aviation products and services to commercial, government and defense customers. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) solutions, component repair and overhaul, and engineering services designed to support a wide variety of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Leveraging FAA and EASA certifications, AAR delivers turnkey maintenance programs and ad hoc repair services that enhance aircraft availability and reliability.

In its Aviation Supply Chain Services segment, AAR sources, stores and distributes parts for both commercial airlines and military operators.