Zacks Research Upgrades Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) to “Strong-Buy”

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ryanair presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $73.50.

Ryanair Price Performance

Shares of RYAAY opened at $68.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $36.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.25. Ryanair has a fifty-two week low of $38.52 and a fifty-two week high of $74.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.36.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryanair

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Ryanair in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ryanair by 280.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 484 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Ryanair by 1,057.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased 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 purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.