AAR (NYSE:AIR) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of AAR (NYSE:AIR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on AIR. KeyCorp initiated coverage on AAR in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of AAR in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

AAR Price Performance

AIR opened at $67.90 on Wednesday. AAR has a 12-month low of $54.71 and a 12-month high of $76.34. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 242.51 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.89.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07. AAR had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $686.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $654.47 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. AAR’s quarterly revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AAR will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Jessup sold 33,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total transaction of $2,357,062.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,449,913.60. This represents a 34.63 % 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, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 5,000 shares of AAR stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total transaction of $354,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 341,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,194,360.80. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 185,793 shares of company stock valued at $12,538,396. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AAR

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AAR by 18.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 500,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,693,000 after acquiring an additional 77,974 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of AAR by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 40,737 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AAR during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,539,000. Shelton Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AAR in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,068,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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. 90.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AAR Company Profile

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.