Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Raised to “Buy” at Citigroup

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) was upgraded by Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $68.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $45.00. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 20.01% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AL. StockNews.com upgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America cut shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.43.

Air Lease Price Performance

Shares of Air Lease stock opened at $56.66 on Tuesday. Air Lease has a 52-week low of $38.25 and a 52-week high of $59.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.84 and a 200-day moving average of $47.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.27. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. The business had revenue of $738.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Air Lease will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Air Lease news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total value of $568,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,316 shares in the company, valued at $8,318,064.60. This trade represents a 6.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Lease

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Air Lease during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in Air Lease by 152.4% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 588 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Air Lease during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Air Lease by 88.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 743 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Air Lease Company Profile

Air Lease Corporation, an aircraft leasing company, engages in the purchase and leasing of commercial jet aircraft to airlines worldwide. It sells aircraft from its fleet to third parties, including other leasing companies, financial services companies, airlines, and other investors. The company provides fleet management services to investors and owners of aircraft portfolios.