Legato Capital Management LLC Increases Position in AAR Corp. $AIR

Legato Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) by 69.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 7,613 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AAR were worth $1,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AAR by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,061,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $336,229,000 after buying an additional 281,871 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of AAR by 10.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,917,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $131,927,000 after buying an additional 188,406 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of AAR by 144.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,486,775 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $133,319,000 after buying an additional 878,188 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of AAR by 36.9% during 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 during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of AAR by 2.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 781,333 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $70,062,000 after buying an additional 19,463 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.74% of the company’s stock.

AAR Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AIR opened at $108.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $111.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.41. AAR Corp. has a 52-week low of $58.83 and a 52-week high of $127.21.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $845.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.58 million. AAR had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 5.46%.AAR’s quarterly revenue was up 24.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AAR Corp. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded AAR from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered AAR from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Truist Financial upgraded AAR to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on AAR to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AAR in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.20.

Insider Activity

In other AAR news, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 26,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.60, for a total transaction of $2,816,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 235,064 shares in the company, valued at $25,292,886.40. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

AAR Company Profile

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.