AAR (NYSE:AIR) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a sell rating. The stock had previously closed at $68.35, but opened at $63.58. AAR shares last traded at $59.00, with a volume of 330,752 shares traded.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AIR. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of AAR in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of AAR from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John Mcclain Holmes III sold 5,000 shares of AAR stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total value of $354,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 341,680 shares in the company, valued at $24,194,360.80. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. 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 that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $100,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 37,565 shares in the company, valued at $2,513,098.50. This represents a 3.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 185,793 shares of company stock valued at $12,538,396 in the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AAR

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of AAR in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in AAR in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in AAR in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AAR by 761.2% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 887 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AAR by 124.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.74% of the company’s stock.

AAR Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 204.08 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.44.

AAR (NYSE:AIR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 27th. The aerospace company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. AAR had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company had revenue of $678.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that AAR Corp. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.