Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Lowered to Hold Rating by Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank cut shares of Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on RYAAY. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.50.

Ryanair Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:RYAAY opened at $66.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. Ryanair has a fifty-two week low of $38.52 and a fifty-two week high of $74.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.14.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 29.76%. Analysts predict that Ryanair will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ryanair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued 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 14.26%.

Institutional Trading of Ryanair

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 658.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,041,000 after acquiring an additional 861,361 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Ryanair by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 29,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Ryanair in the second quarter valued at about $203,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ryanair by 55.2% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,784 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,601,000 after purchasing an additional 28,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ryanair by 17.3% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 122,810 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,082,000 after buying an additional 18,080 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.