ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,315 AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,315 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AAR by 3.2% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,588,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $115,513,000 after buying an additional 48,630 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AAR by 13.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 969,741 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $59,591,000 after buying an additional 114,460 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AAR by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,962 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $52,101,000 after buying an additional 27,747 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in AAR by 20.5% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 790,267 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $51,652,000 after purchasing an additional 134,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in AAR by 32.9% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 732,957 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $47,906,000 after purchasing an additional 181,518 shares during the last quarter. 90.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of AAR in a research note on Friday, October 4th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of AAR in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AAR from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of AAR in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

AAR Price Performance

AIR stock opened at $72.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. AAR Corp. has a one year low of $54.71 and a one year high of $76.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 258.03 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.12.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $686.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $654.47 million. AAR had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AAR Corp. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 33,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,357,062.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,449,913.60. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total value of $354,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 341,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,194,360.80. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 185,793 shares of company stock worth $12,538,396. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

About AAR

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. The Parts Supply segment leases and sells aircraft components and replacement parts. The Repair & Engineering segment provides airframe maintenance services, such as airframe inspection, painting, line maintenance, airframe modification, structural repair, avionics service and installation, exterior and interior refurbishment, and engineering and support services; component repair services comprising maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, engine and airframe accessories, and interior refurbishment; and landing gear overhaul services, including repair services on wheels and brakes.