Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) Stake Boosted by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,278 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at about $872,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 3.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,115,221 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,508,000 after buying an additional 36,596 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,289,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Air Lease by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 70,984 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,250,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Air Lease by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 24,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Stock Performance

NYSE:AL opened at $49.03 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.87 and a 200-day moving average of $46.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Air Lease Co. has a twelve month low of $39.43 and a twelve month high of $52.31.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. Analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s payout ratio is 26.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.67.

About Air Lease

Air Lease Corporation, an aircraft leasing company, engages in the purchase and leasing of commercial jet aircraft to airlines worldwide. It sells aircraft from its fleet to third parties, including other leasing companies, financial services companies, airlines, and other investors. The company provides fleet management services to investors and owners of aircraft portfolios.