Reasons for the Outperformance of Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY)

Oakmark Funds, advised by Harris Associates, released its “Oakmark International Fund” fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. For the quarter ended December 31, 2023, the fund returned 8.70% compared to the MSCI World ex U.S. Index benchmark’s 10.51 % return. The fund returned 18.81% for the calendar year compared to a 17.94% return for the benchmark. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2023.

In its Q4 2023 investor letter, Oakmark International Fund featured stocks such as Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY). Headquartered in Swords, Ireland, Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) offers scheduled passenger airline services. On January 8, 2024, Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) stock closed at $124.11 per share. One-month return of Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) was -1.93%, and its shares gained 37.53% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) has a market capitalization of $28.292 billion.

In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, Oakmark International Fund stated the following regarding Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY):

Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) (Ireland), a European ultra-low-cost airline, was the top contributor to the Fund’s performance this quarter. Ryanair released strong results for the first half of fiscal-year 2024 and was accompanied by an even stronger outlook, in our view. The company’s revenue grew 30% year over year, and average fares increased by 24% to EUR 58, driven by record demand and constrained capacity at European peers. Total passengers flown expanded 11% year over year to 105.4 million, and management is on track to maintain its target of 183.5 million passengers for 2024, depending on Boeing’s ability to meet its delivery commitments. Management is expecting full-year 2024 net income to be between EUR 1.85-2.05 billion ahead of the EUR 1.82 billion consensus estimate. The company’s strong free cash flow levels and balance sheet allowed Ryanair to reinstate a EUR 400 million dividend (35 cents per share). We spoke with CEO Michael O’Leary about additional uses for its excess capital and were happy to hear about an incremental EUR 1.5 billion return to shareholders starting in 2025. We continue to be optimistic about Ryanair’s future.”

A modern commercial jet airliner decorated with the company logo in flight against a clear blue sky.

Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 19 hedge fund portfolios held Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) at the end of third quarter which was 21 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) in another article and shared the list of best travel stocks to buy right. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.