Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Makes New $6.22 Million Investment in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 65,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,221,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in AerCap by 5.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,601,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $545,726,000 after buying an additional 282,980 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of AerCap by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,862,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,579,000 after acquiring an additional 370,906 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in shares of AerCap by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,934,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,802,000 after acquiring an additional 86,548 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in AerCap by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,550,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,068,000 after purchasing an additional 167,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AerCap during the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,517,000. 96.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AerCap Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AER opened at $89.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. AerCap Holdings has a one year low of $81.93 and a one year high of $107.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

AerCap (NYSE:AER) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.75. AerCap had a net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. On average, analysts predict that AerCap Holdings will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AerCap Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from AerCap’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AerCap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.99%.

AerCap declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AER has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of AerCap in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of AerCap from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America raised their price objective on AerCap from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded AerCap to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.43.

About AerCap

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.