AAR (NYSE:AIR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

AAR (NYSE:AIR) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of AAR in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of AAR in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on shares of AAR in a research note on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AAR presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

AAR Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIR traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.25. 165,600 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 376,495. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 250.91 and a beta of 1.61. AAR has a 12 month low of $54.71 and a 12 month high of $76.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.77 and a 200-day moving average of $65.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. AAR had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $686.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $654.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that AAR will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 128,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.76, for a total transaction of $8,573,786.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 346,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,144,356.80. The trade was a 27.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jessica A. Garascia sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $100,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 37,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,513,098.50. The trade was a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 180,793 shares of company stock valued at $12,184,346 over the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AAR

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AAR by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 500,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,693,000 after purchasing an additional 77,974 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in AAR by 269.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,328,000 after buying an additional 48,298 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AAR by 3.2% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,588,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $115,513,000 after buying an additional 48,630 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of AAR by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 22,859 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of AAR by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 109,543 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,160,000 after acquiring an additional 21,342 shares in the last quarter. 90.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AAR

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. The Parts Supply segment leases and sells aircraft components and replacement parts. The Repair & Engineering segment provides airframe maintenance services, such as airframe inspection, painting, line maintenance, airframe modification, structural repair, avionics service and installation, exterior and interior refurbishment, and engineering and support services; component repair services comprising maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, engine and airframe accessories, and interior refurbishment; and landing gear overhaul services, including repair services on wheels and brakes.