Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Erste Group Bank

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on RYAAY. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.50.

Ryanair Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ RYAAY traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.16. 179,810 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,413,035. 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 stock has a market cap of $34.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.13. Ryanair has a one year low of $38.52 and a one year high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ryanair will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Ryanair in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Ryanair by 2,929.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 515 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Ryanair by 1,057.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.