Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Invests $425,000 in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 10,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Air Lease during the third quarter worth about $1,256,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 186,241 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,340,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 72,256 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,030,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in shares of Air Lease by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,402,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $58,812,000 after buying an additional 144,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Air Lease by 47.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 938,826 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,999,000 after buying an additional 302,576 shares during the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on AL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Air Lease from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Air Lease from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Air Lease Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of AL opened at $48.55 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.65. Air Lease Co. has a 52 week low of $33.33 and a 52 week high of $51.77.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $716.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $672.95 million. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 22.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.31%.

Insider Transactions at Air Lease

In related news, EVP Alex A. Khatibi sold 11,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.37, for a total transaction of $530,496.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 76,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,614,331. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Air Lease news, EVP Alex A. Khatibi sold 11,199 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.37, for a total value of $530,496.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 76,300 shares in the company, valued at $3,614,331. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John L. Plueger sold 28,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.06, for a total transaction of $1,142,310.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 808,842 shares in the company, valued at $32,402,210.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 89,646 shares of company stock valued at $3,705,152. 6.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.