Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $154.67.

A number of research firms have recently commented on RYAAY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ryanair to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Ryanair to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group lowered Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Ryanair from $149.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RYAAY. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ryanair in the fourth quarter worth $870,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ryanair in the 4th quarter valued at about $913,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ryanair during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,426,000. Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in Ryanair by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 748,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $99,792,000 after acquiring an additional 149,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in Ryanair by 151.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 14,041 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 8,454 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ryanair Price Performance

Ryanair stock opened at $113.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.55. Ryanair has a one year low of $87.18 and a one year high of $150.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $107.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.62.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($1.20). The company had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. Ryanair had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 12.07%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ryanair will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Ryanair Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.692 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a yield of 1.8%. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.50%.

About Ryanair

Ryanair Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled-passenger airline services in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and internationally. It is also involved in the provision of various ancillary services, such as non-flight scheduled and Internet-related services, as well as in-flight sale of beverages, food, duty-free, and merchandise; and markets car hire, travel insurance, and accommodation services through its website and mobile app.