Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $73.68 and last traded at $73.33, with a volume of 30010 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $72.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on RYAAY. Zacks Research lowered Ryanair from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

Ryanair Trading Up 0.9%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.19 and a 200-day moving average of $61.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $38.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.26.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. Ryanair had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 16.29%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RYAAY. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in Ryanair by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 115,965 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,983,000 after purchasing an additional 16,501 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Ryanair in the third quarter valued at about $640,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its position in Ryanair by 9.1% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 37,194 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 3,113 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ryanair by 13.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,176,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $191,291,000 after acquiring an additional 376,145 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Ryanair by 280.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 472 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.66% of the company’s stock.

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.