Air Canada (TSE:AC) Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to “Buy” Rating

Air Canada (TSE:AC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a C$25.50 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of C$20.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 17.24% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Air Canada from C$20.00 to C$21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Air Canada from C$16.00 to C$18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Air Canada from C$28.00 to C$25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Air Canada from C$41.00 to C$36.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, ATB Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Air Canada from C$27.00 to C$26.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Canada presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$24.98.

Air Canada Stock Performance

Air Canada stock traded up C$0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching C$21.75. 3,757,263 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,330,549. Air Canada has a 12-month low of C$14.47 and a 12-month high of C$21.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$16.71 and its 200-day moving average is C$17.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1,070.99, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of C$7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 4.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.02 and a beta of 2.39.

Air Canada (TSE:AC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported C$0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.85 by C$0.13. The firm had revenue of C$5.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$5.55 billion. Air Canada had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 603.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Air Canada will post 2.5789474 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Air Canada

In other Air Canada news, Senior Officer Christophe Hennebelle purchased 1,900 shares of Air Canada stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$15.70 per share, for a total transaction of C$29,830.00. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Air Canada

Air Canada provides domestic, U.S. transborder, and international airline services. The company provides scheduled passenger services under the Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada Rouge brand names in the Canadian market, the Canada-U.S. transborder market, and in the international market to and from Canada, as well as through capacity purchase agreements on other regional carriers.