Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $73.68 and last traded at $73.33, with a volume of 30010 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on RYAAY shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Ryanair Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $38.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

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

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.