Fred Alger Management LLC Increases Stock Position in AAR Corp. $AIR

Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 694,402 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,251 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in AAR were worth $62,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AAR by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in AAR by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,683 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $958,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in AAR by 1.7% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in AAR in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in AAR by 1.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 33,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. 90.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AAR Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of AIR stock opened at $101.92 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. AAR Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $46.51 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.83.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 6th. The aerospace company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $795.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.95 million. AAR had a net margin of 3.17% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AAR Corp. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AIR. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $128.00 target price (up from $107.00) on shares of AAR in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of AAR to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of AAR in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AAR from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of AAR in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AAR currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at AAR

In other news, CAO Jessica A. Garascia sold 4,787 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total transaction of $455,961.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 29,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,815,304.25. This trade represents a 13.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 23,621 shares of AAR stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $2,292,418.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 65,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,382,881.45. This represents a 26.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 128,984 shares of company stock worth $12,517,090. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About AAR

AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) is a global provider of aviation products and services to commercial, government and defense customers. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) solutions, component repair and overhaul, and engineering services designed to support a wide variety of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Leveraging FAA and EASA certifications, AAR delivers turnkey maintenance programs and ad hoc repair services that enhance aircraft availability and reliability.

In its Aviation Supply Chain Services segment, AAR sources, stores and distributes parts for both commercial airlines and military operators.