Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Upgraded at Zacks Research

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

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Lease currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.60.

Air Lease Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AL opened at $64.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.17. Air Lease has a 12 month low of $38.25 and a 12 month high of $64.92.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $679.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.67 million. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 35.72%.Air Lease’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Air Lease will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Air Lease’s payout ratio is presently 9.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Air Lease news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 20,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $1,324,434.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,210,833.10. This trade represents a 29.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $64,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,206 shares in the company, valued at $8,822,345.80. This represents a 0.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 641,418 shares of company stock valued at $41,062,322. Corporate insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Lease

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