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

Shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.9750.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on RYAAY shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Ryanair in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Ryanair from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st.

Insider Activity at Ryanair

In related news, insider John Jh Hurley sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.24, for a total value of $468,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 76,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,375,021. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Ryanair

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Ryanair by 645,657.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,789,672 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $201,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,240 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Ryanair by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 39,929,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,884,834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,742 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Ryanair by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,895,021 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $281,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,666 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ryanair during the fourth quarter worth about $91,970,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ryanair by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,304,889 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $527,341,000 after buying an additional 985,939 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.66% of the company’s stock.

Ryanair Stock Performance

NASDAQ RYAAY opened at $55.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.39. Ryanair has a 52 week low of $53.14 and a 52 week high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The transportation company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Ryanair had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 12.14%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ryanair will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Ryanair Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.4434 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.52%.

About Ryanair

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.