Cannell & Spears LLC Decreases Stock Position in Air Lease Corporation $AL

Cannell & Spears LLC cut its position in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) by 42.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 211,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 153,618 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $13,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Air Lease by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 50,569 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,443,000 after acquiring an additional 9,056 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Air Lease by 1,675.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 204,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,855,000 after acquiring an additional 192,508 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Air Lease by 493.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,884 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 7,387 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Air Lease by 5.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 326,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,784,000 after purchasing an additional 15,629 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Air Lease by 16.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 298,275 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,410,000 after purchasing an additional 41,912 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AL. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.00.

Air Lease Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AL opened at $64.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.97. Air Lease Corporation has a twelve month low of $38.25 and a twelve month high of $64.96. The stock has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 6.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $679.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.67 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 35.72% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In other Air Lease news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $64,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,822,345.80. This trade represents a 0.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kishore Korde sold 20,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $1,324,434.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 50,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,210,833.10. This trade represents a 29.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 89,294 shares of company stock valued at $5,728,216 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

About Air Lease

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) is a leading aircraft leasing company that acquires commercial jet aircraft and leases them to airlines worldwide. The firm’s core business activities include direct aircraft acquisition, lease management and portfolio remarketing. By structuring sale‐and‐leaseback transactions, operating leases and secured loans, Air Lease provides flexible financing solutions that enable carriers to modernize their fleets without committing large amounts of capital to ownership.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Los Angeles, Air Lease Corporation serves a diverse customer base spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.