Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $59.27 and last traded at $58.04, with a volume of 1456059 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $57.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AL shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Air Lease from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $68.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America downgraded Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.43.

Air Lease Stock Up 0.8%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.27. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. The company had revenue of $738.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.38%.

Insider Activity at Air Lease

In other Air Lease news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total transaction of $568,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,316 shares in the company, valued at $8,318,064.60. This represents a 6.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AL. Barclays PLC grew its position in Air Lease by 104.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 43,981 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares during the period. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 230.0% in the fourth quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 66,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,182,000 after purchasing an additional 46,000 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,681 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Air Lease by 1,980.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 14,292 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 13,605 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

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.