Short Interest in Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Increases By 57.7%

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 2,425,460 shares, a growth of 57.7% from the May 14th total of 1,538,172 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,825,397 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ryanair

In other news, insider Jason Paul Mcguinness sold 9,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.56, for a total transaction of $275,572.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 14,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $394,245.80. This represents a 41.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider David Patrick Dpo O’brien sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $210,160.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 73,183 shares in the company, valued at $1,903,489.83. This trade represents a 9.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 111,607 shares of company stock valued at $2,918,397 over the last three months.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RYAAY. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ryanair by 280.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ryanair by 76.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ryanair by 2,929.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 515 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ryanair by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 584 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ryanair by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 653 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 43.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ryanair from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ryanair has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.67.

Ryanair Trading Down 1.2%

RYAAY stock traded down $0.75 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 316,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,477,557. Ryanair has a 52 week low of $53.14 and a 52 week high of $74.24. The stock has a market cap of $31.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.94.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 19th. The transportation company reported ($0.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.95) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 25.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ryanair will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

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.