Are easyJet Shares Buy or Sell?

In this article, we will examine the prospect of investing in easyJet, highlight the easyJet dividend history and discuss whether easyJet shares are buy or sell. So, if you’re asking yourself: ‘Should I buy easyJet shares?’ - you’ve come to the right place.

easyJet Shares Buy or Sell

Although its share price may still bear some scars from the pandemic, easyJet returned to profitability in 2023 and, following an uptick in share price, was readmitted to the FTSE 100 at the beginning of 2024.

Will the low-cost carrier continue to perform well throughout the year? Are easyJet shares buy or sell? In the following sections, we will analyse both the buy and sell cases for easyJet stock.

Buy

Airlines were amongst the worst affected by the pandemic in 2020, as social and travel restrictions caused demand to fall flat.

As restrictions began to ease, demand gradually started to recover, In 2023, demand boomed, allowing easyJet to record its first annual profit since the outbreak of the pandemic. The airline’s return to profitability was accompanied by the reinstatement of its dividend, which had been halted due to the pandemic.

In the first half of easyJet’s financial year 2024, the airline reported a loss. However, the six-month reporting period, which ended 31 March 2024, includes the winter months, which are likely to always be more subdued than the summer months, when demand tends to peak. Although easyJet posted a loss, it was a substantially smaller loss than the year before, which was well-received by investors.

Also well-received by investors was the continued strong growth of easyJet Holidays, where profit before tax surged 210%, offsetting some of the losses from the airline business. This area of the business is expected to continue performing strongly throughout the year.

A big positive for easyJet is its robust balance sheet. Like many airlines, easyJet took on a lot of debt during the pandemic in order to stay afloat, reporting net debt of £1.1 billion at the end of 2020. However, easyJet has subsequently focused on reducing this debt and, at the end of March 2024, reported net cash of £146 million.

Sell

Investing in easyJet or any other airline is not for the fainthearted, a quick look through the easyJet share price chart above will be enough to demonstrate this.

One of the biggest risks of investing in easyJet, and other airline stocks, is the highly cyclical nature of the industry. When the economy is struggling, demand for travel is likely to fall, which can result in travel companies like easyJet taking a bruising as bookings drop.

However, having said that, one of the best ways for cyclical businesses to protect themselves against a downturn is by strengthening their balance sheet whilst things are good. As we saw in the previous section, that is exactly what easyJet have been doing.

easyJet Dividend History

easyJet paid its first ever dividend in 2011 and continued making annual payouts until 2020, when dividends were suspended in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However - following a strong performance in 2023, which saw the airline return to profit - the easyJet dividend was resumed. At the time of writing, the easyJet dividend yield is around 1%.

The chart below shows the easyJet dividend history between 2011 and 2023.

easyJet Share Price Forecast

So, what do the analysts currently think about investing in easyJet? Out of 10 analysts offering an easyJet share price forecast in the last three months, there are currently 7 buy, 3 hold and 0 sell ratings for the airline stock.

The highest easyJet stock forecast gives a 12-month price target of 831.23p, whilst the lowest price target was 524.34p. The average easyJet share price forecast was 652.79p.

How to Buy easyJet Shares

With an Invest.MT5 account from Admirals, you can invest in easyJet shares. Follow these steps in order to get started:

1. Open an Invest.MT5 account and log in to the Dashboard.
2. Open the web trading platform.
3. Search for easyJet stock and click the symbol to open a price chart.
4. Create a new order, enter the desired number of easyJet shares and click ‘Buy’.

Investing with Admirals

With an Invest.MT5 account, you can buy shares in more than 4,500 companies around the world and over 200 Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). Click the banner below to find out more:

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