Short Interest in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) Decreases By 18.2%

AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) saw a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,160,000 shares, a drop of 18.2% from the August 15th total of 2,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Institutional Trading of AerCap

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AER. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AerCap by 89.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of AerCap during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of AerCap by 230.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of AerCap during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of AerCap during the 1st quarter worth about $52,000. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AER has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of AerCap from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AerCap in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on AerCap from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of AerCap in a report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.38.

AerCap Stock Performance

Shares of AER opened at $94.87 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $93.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.06. AerCap has a 52 week low of $57.30 and a 52 week high of $98.79. The company has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a PE ratio of 6.17, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.60. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. AerCap had a net margin of 42.02% and a return on equity of 15.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AerCap will post 11.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AerCap Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.51%.

AerCap Company 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.