Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Air Lease (NYSE:AL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on AL. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.60.

Air Lease Stock Up 0.0%

Air Lease stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 866,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,499,088. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46. Air Lease has a 12 month low of $38.25 and a 12 month high of $64.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.10. The company has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.13.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $679.54 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Air Lease will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.45%.

Insider Transactions at Air Lease

In related news, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 64,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $4,097,280.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 74,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,737,480. The trade was a 46.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John L. Plueger sold 155,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $9,977,218.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 725,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,482,002.23. This represents a 17.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 641,418 shares of company stock worth $41,062,322. 6.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Air Lease by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,591,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $419,540,000 after acquiring an additional 41,975 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 4,602,260 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $295,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,260 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Air Lease by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,459,048 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $203,084,000 after purchasing an additional 28,227 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Air Lease by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,818,667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $181,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056,637 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Air Lease by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,477,264 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $159,115,000 after buying an additional 193,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Company Profile

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.