Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Stock Rating Lowered by Barclays

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) was downgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $65.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $68.00. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.19% from the company’s previous close.

AL has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.17.

Air Lease Price Performance

Shares of Air Lease stock opened at $64.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.71. Air Lease has a 52 week low of $38.25 and a 52 week high of $64.40.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.13. Air Lease had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 35.08%.The company had revenue of $725.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Air Lease will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In related news, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 64,000 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total value of $4,097,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 74,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,737,480. This trade represents a 46.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John L. Plueger sold 155,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $46,482,002.23. The trade was a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 760,593 shares of company stock worth $48,668,588 in the last 90 days. 6.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Air Lease

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AL. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in Air Lease by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 60,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,837,000 after buying an additional 22,775 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at about $840,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,284,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Air Lease by 371.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,226 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares in the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.