Insider Selling: Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Sells $621,414.00 in Stock

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis sold 11,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.51, for a total value of $621,414.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 2,507,743 shares in the company, valued at $136,697,070.93. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Up 0.4%

Willis Lease Finance stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $55.11. 89,827 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,057. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.01 and its 200 day moving average is $65.27. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a 52 week low of $38.00 and a 52 week high of $81.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $194.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.00 million. Willis Lease Finance had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 11.80%.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.133 per share. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Willis Lease Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WLFC. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Freedom Capital raised Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on Willis Lease Finance in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Lease Finance presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.00.

Institutional Trading of Willis Lease Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLFC. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Willis Lease Finance by 27,701.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 750,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $171,811,000 after buying an additional 748,221 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Willis Lease Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $360,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Willis Lease Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $562,000. Susquehanna Advisors Group Inc. bought a new stake in Willis Lease Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,185,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the second quarter worth $526,000. 93.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willis Lease Finance Company Profile

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: WLFC) is an independent global provider of aircraft engine leasing, trading and aftermarket services. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the United States, the company specializes in offering short- and long-term operating leases for jet engines and auxiliary power units. Through its broad engine portfolio, Willis Lease Finance supports a wide range of commercial aircraft across various operators, including major airlines, regional carriers and other leasing companies.

In addition to leasing solutions, Willis Lease Finance offers comprehensive engine trading and asset management services.