Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) CEO Sells $808,500.00 in Stock

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) CEO Austin Willis sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,685,863.20. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Austin Chandler Willis also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 3rd, Austin Willis sold 15,000 shares of Willis Lease Finance stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.34, for a total value of $1,100,100.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Austin Willis sold 15,552 shares of Willis Lease Finance stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $1,161,578.88.

Willis Lease Finance Price Performance

Shares of WLFC opened at $56.22 on Friday. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.00 and a 12-month high of $81.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.72.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.41. Willis Lease Finance had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 11.80%.The company had revenue of $194.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.00 million.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.133 per share. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Willis Lease Finance’s payout ratio is presently 13.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Freedom Capital upgraded Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on Willis Lease Finance in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLFC. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Willis Lease Finance by 1.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 4.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the first quarter valued at about $563,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the 2nd quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 951.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,346 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,904,000 after purchasing an additional 24,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.70% of the company’s stock.

Willis Lease Finance Company Profile

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.