Swiss National Bank Has $79.54 Million Stake in Aercap Holdings N.V. $AER

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Aercap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) by 20.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 579,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Aercap were worth $79,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Aercap during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Greenline Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aercap in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aercap in the third quarter worth $35,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aercap in the first quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aercap by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. 96.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AER. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Aercap from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Aercap from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aercap from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Aercap in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $173.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Aercap from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aercap has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.67.

Aercap Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Aercap stock opened at $151.59 on Wednesday. Aercap Holdings N.V. has a 1 year low of $105.65 and a 1 year high of $155.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.23. The company has a market cap of $25.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34.

Aercap (NYSE:AER) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The financial services provider reported $5.39 EPS for the quarter. Aercap had a net margin of 45.22% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aercap Holdings N.V. will post 17.39 EPS for the current year.

Aercap announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aercap Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Aercap’s payout ratio is presently 7.01%.

About Aercap

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.