Aercap Holdings N.V. $AER Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Aercap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) by 31.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 55,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,846 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aercap were worth $7,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aercap in the 4th quarter valued at $352,172,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Aercap during the 4th quarter worth $282,665,000. L1 Capital International Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Aercap by 344.2% in the 4th quarter. L1 Capital International Pty Ltd now owns 1,527,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $219,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,616 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Aercap by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,272,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in Aercap by 642.7% in the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,111,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,498,000 after purchasing an additional 961,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.42% of the company’s stock.

Aercap Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE AER opened at $146.94 on Friday. Aercap Holdings N.V. has a 12 month low of $105.65 and a 12 month high of $155.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 0.24 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $143.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.15.

Aercap (NYSE:AER) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The financial services provider reported $5.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aercap had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 45.22%.The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Aercap Holdings N.V. will post 17.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aercap announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aercap Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Aercap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AER. Barclays boosted their price objective on Aercap from $164.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research lowered Aercap from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aercap from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Aercap from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Aercap from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.12.

Aercap Profile

AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER) is a global aircraft leasing and aviation finance company that acquires, leases, sells and manages commercial aircraft and engines. Its core services include operating leases, finance leases, sale-and-leaseback transactions, aircraft trading and remarketing, and asset management for airline customers. The company also provides related commercial and technical support services designed to optimize fleet utilization and residual values over the life cycle of aircraft and engines.

Operating with a broad global footprint, AerCap serves airlines and other aviation customers across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.