Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Invests $424.58 Million in Aercap Holdings N.V. $AER

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Aercap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,912,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $424,585,000. Aercap comprises 7.5% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned 1.75% of Aercap at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in Aercap by 221.4% in the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aercap in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Aercap during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aercap during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aercap in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. 96.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aercap Stock Performance

Shares of AER stock opened at $146.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.32. Aercap Holdings N.V. has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $158.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

Aercap (NYSE:AER) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.14 by $1.00. Aercap had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 37.85%.The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Aercap has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.800-16.800 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aercap Holdings N.V. will post 18.95 EPS for the current year.

Aercap declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aercap Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Aercap’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AER. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Aercap from $164.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Aercap from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Aercap from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Aercap from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aercap from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.56.

About Aercap

AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER) is a global aircraft leasing and aviation finance company that acquires, leases, sells and manages commercial aircraft and engines. Its core services include operating leases, finance leases, sale-and-leaseback transactions, aircraft trading and remarketing, and asset management for airline customers. The company also provides related commercial and technical support services designed to optimize fleet utilization and residual values over the life cycle of aircraft and engines.

Operating with a broad global footprint, AerCap serves airlines and other aviation customers across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.