Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Ryanair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd.

Ryanair Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of RYAAY stock opened at $69.50 on Wednesday. Ryanair has a fifty-two week low of $38.52 and a fifty-two week high of $74.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.91.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.14. Ryanair had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 16.29%.The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. Equities analysts expect that Ryanair will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ryanair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.65%.

Institutional Trading of Ryanair

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RYAAY. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Ryanair in the third quarter valued at $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ryanair by 280.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 472 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Ryanair by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 484 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in Ryanair in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Ryanair by 1,057.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.66% of the company’s stock.

Ryanair Company Profile

Ryanair Holdings plc is an Irish low-cost airline group headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1984, the company grew into one of Europe’s largest budget carriers by offering point-to-point scheduled passenger services with an emphasis on low fares, high aircraft utilization and rapid turnaround times. Ryanair serves a broad network across Europe and nearby regions, focusing on both intra-European leisure travel and short-haul business routes.

The group primarily operates a single-type fleet based on the Boeing 737 family, supplemented by a mix of in-house and subsidiary airlines that help serve different markets and regulatory environments.