Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $73.50.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RYAAY. Zacks Research lowered Ryanair from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ryanair from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, January 15th.

Ryanair Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RYAAY opened at $65.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.22. Ryanair has a 52 week low of $38.52 and a 52 week high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 29.76%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ryanair will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ryanair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $0.4545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio is 14.26%.

Institutional Trading of Ryanair

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Ryanair in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted 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 during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 76.0% during 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. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 2,929.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 515 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Ryanair by 1,057.4% during the 3rd 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 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.