AAR (NYSE:AIR) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $108.47 and last traded at $108.0910, with a volume of 266108 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $105.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AIR shares. Truist Financial set a $107.00 price objective on AAR in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AAR from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of AAR in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AAR from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of AAR from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.80.

AAR Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $90.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.13. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.36 and a beta of 1.24.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 6th. The aerospace company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. AAR had a net margin of 3.17% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $795.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that AAR Corp. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AAR news, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 9,947 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total transaction of $988,831.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 237,064 shares in the company, valued at $23,566,532.24. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 23,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $2,292,418.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 65,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,382,881.45. The trade was a 26.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 146,696 shares of company stock valued at $13,477,247 over the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AAR

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AAR by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,061,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $336,229,000 after acquiring an additional 281,871 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AAR by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,917,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $131,927,000 after purchasing an additional 188,406 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of AAR by 144.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,486,775 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $133,319,000 after buying an additional 878,188 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AAR by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,208,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $83,153,000 after buying an additional 48,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in AAR by 36.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,154,167 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,752,000 after buying an additional 311,258 shares in the last quarter. 90.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AAR

AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) is a global provider of aviation products and services to commercial, government and defense customers. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) solutions, component repair and overhaul, and engineering services designed to support a wide variety of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Leveraging FAA and EASA certifications, AAR delivers turnkey maintenance programs and ad hoc repair services that enhance aircraft availability and reliability.

In its Aviation Supply Chain Services segment, AAR sources, stores and distributes parts for both commercial airlines and military operators.