Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Cut to “Hold” at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on RYAAY. Zacks Research raised shares of Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ryanair presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.50.

Ryanair Stock Up 0.5%

Ryanair stock opened at $64.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.13. Ryanair has a 1-year low of $38.52 and a 1-year high of $74.24.

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

Ryanair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Ryanair’s payout ratio is presently 14.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryanair

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RYAAY. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Ryanair in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Ryanair by 280.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 472 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ryanair by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 484 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 1,057.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 544 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Ryanair by 250.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 593 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.