Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $43.43 and last traded at $44.63, with a volume of 207023 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Embraer to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group downgraded Embraer from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $29.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Embraer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Embraer from $40.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.43.

Embraer Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.39.

Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The aerospace company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Embraer had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 8.24%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Embraer S.A. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Embraer

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ERJ. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Embraer in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Embraer by 33.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 75,219 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 18,656 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Embraer during the third quarter worth approximately $10,611,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in Embraer during the 3rd quarter valued at $981,000. Finally, Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of Embraer during the fourth quarter worth about $384,000. 34.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Embraer

Embraer SA designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircraft and systems in North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Commercial Aviation; Defense & Security; Executive Aviation; Services & Support; and Other segments. The Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, manufactures, and sells commercial jets, as well as leases aircraft.