Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

RYAAY has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $73.50.

Ryanair Stock Performance

Ryanair stock traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.94. The stock had a trading volume of 582,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,362,686. Ryanair has a 52-week low of $38.52 and a 52-week high of $74.24. The company has a market capitalization of $36.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

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

Ryanair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a $0.4545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.65%.

Institutional Trading of Ryanair

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RYAAY. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ryanair in the 4th quarter worth $278,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ryanair by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 78,475 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,707,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ryanair during the fourth quarter worth about $962,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 313.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,563 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 4,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ryanair during the fourth quarter valued at about $227,000. 43.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.