Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Trading 3.5% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)’s stock price rose 3.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $59.00 and last traded at $59.17. Approximately 118,425 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 772,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Air Lease from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $68.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Lease has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.43.

Air Lease Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.67. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.27. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. The firm had revenue of $738.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Air Lease’s payout ratio is currently 15.38%.

Insider Activity at Air Lease

In related news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total value 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. The trade was a 6.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Lease

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,592,510 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $318,479,000 after purchasing an additional 31,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,453,859 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $263,476,000 after acquiring an additional 69,629 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Air Lease by 1.2% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,025,421 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $242,778,000 after acquiring an additional 60,216 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Air Lease by 10.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,563,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $172,143,000 after purchasing an additional 336,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Air Lease by 19.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,353,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $162,492,000 after purchasing an additional 553,080 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Company Profile

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.