Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on RYAAY. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Ryanair from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.50.

Ryanair Stock Up 3.6%

RYAAY opened at $69.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $36.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.49 and its 200-day moving average is $65.20. Ryanair has a one year low of $38.52 and a one year high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.08. Ryanair had a return on equity of 29.76% and a net margin of 15.04%.The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Ryanair will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryanair

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Ryanair by 658.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,041,000 after acquiring an additional 861,361 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ryanair by 84.6% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,993 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 37.5% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 107,811 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,217,000 after purchasing an additional 29,380 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG purchased a new position in Ryanair during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,414,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Ryanair by 94.1% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 174,323 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after purchasing an additional 84,511 shares in the last quarter. 43.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.