Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WLFC. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of Willis Lease Finance in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $80.00 price objective on Willis Lease Finance and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Freedom Capital upgraded Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Willis Lease Finance in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.50.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Performance

WLFC stock opened at $45.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.42. Willis Lease Finance has a 52 week low of $36.39 and a 52 week high of $81.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.60). The company had revenue of $243.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.43 million. Willis Lease Finance had a net margin of 9.38% and a return on equity of 11.89%. Research analysts anticipate that Willis Lease Finance will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Willis Lease Finance

In other news, CEO Austin Willis sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $808,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 420,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,685,863.20. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Charles Willis, IV sold 31,400 shares of Willis Lease Finance stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,819,002.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 2,612,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,338,822.99. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 196,700 shares of company stock worth $10,937,108 in the last 90 days. 56.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Willis Lease Finance

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Willis Lease Finance during the second quarter worth approximately $10,423,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 533.8% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 578,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,858,000 after buying an additional 486,959 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 195.0% in the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 124,554 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,216,000 after buying an additional 82,329 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the 3rd quarter worth $624,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 196.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 24,801 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,238,000 after buying an additional 16,444 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.70% of the company’s stock.

Willis Lease Finance Company Profile

Willis Lease Finance Corporation is an aviation services company specializing in the leasing and servicing of commercial aircraft engines. Founded in 1985, the company provides engines and related equipment to airlines, aircraft operators and maintenance providers. Its activities include leasing aircraft engines and auxiliary power units, trading engines and parts, and providing aviation maintenance and repair services. Willis Lease Finance also manages engine and equipment portfolios for customers.