Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $174.58 and traded as high as $197.90. Willis Lease Finance shares last traded at $190.26, with a volume of 135,268 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WLFC. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.58.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $1.01. Willis Lease Finance had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $194.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $175.00 million.

Willis Lease Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Willis Lease Finance’s payout ratio is 9.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Charles F. Iv Willis sold 9,727 shares of Willis Lease Finance stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.09, for a total value of $1,654,465.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 933,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $158,733,771.06. The trade was a 1.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Austin Chandler Willis sold 3,400 shares of Willis Lease Finance stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.55, for a total transaction of $590,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,842,086.25. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 19,397 shares of company stock valued at $3,333,181 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 53.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Willis Lease Finance by 1,498.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 66,008 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after purchasing an additional 61,878 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,073,000. M3F Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 6.9% during the third quarter. M3F Inc. now owns 606,026 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $83,080,000 after buying an additional 39,085 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 357.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 40,289 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,752,000 after buying an additional 31,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 780.3% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 33,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,537,000 after buying an additional 29,652 shares during the last quarter. 93.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Willis Lease Finance

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.