Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL – Get Rating) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,726 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AL. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,365,349 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,457,000 after purchasing an additional 271,810 shares during the period. Connectus Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease during the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,261,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 446,250 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,896 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Air Lease stock opened at $38.10 on Friday. Air Lease Co. has a 1 year low of $29.75 and a 1 year high of $46.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.65.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The transportation company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $601.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $598.62 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 21.25% and a return on equity of 7.60%. Analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 6th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 5th. Air Lease’s payout ratio is 19.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Air Lease in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Friday, February 17th.

Air Lease Profile

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Air Lease Corp. engages in the provision of aircraft leasing business. It focuses on purchasing new commercial jet transport aircraft directly from aircraft manufacturers, and leasing those aircraft to airlines throughout the world with the intention to generate attractive returns on equity. The company was founded by Steven F.