Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $57.38, but opened at $61.10. Ryanair shares last traded at $62.2140, with a volume of 176,977 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RYAAY. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ryanair from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.67.

Ryanair Stock Up 8.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $32.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.21.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.08. Ryanair had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 29.76%. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evolve Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ryanair by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,059 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 4,878 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,462 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ryanair during the fourth quarter worth $235,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in Ryanair by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 7,883 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in Ryanair in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors 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.