American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Air Lease Corporation $AL

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,551,464 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 12,716 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 3.18% of Air Lease worth $226,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 21.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 50,569 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,443,000 after buying an additional 9,056 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Air Lease by 1,675.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 204,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,855,000 after acquiring an additional 192,508 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Air Lease by 493.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,884 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 7,387 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Air Lease by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 326,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,784,000 after acquiring an additional 15,629 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Air Lease by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 298,275 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $14,410,000 after purchasing an additional 41,912 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 64,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $4,097,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 74,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,737,480. This represents a 46.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John L. Plueger sold 155,821 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $9,977,218.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 725,941 shares in the company, valued at $46,482,002.23. This represents a 17.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 595,958 shares of company stock valued at $38,158,193. 6.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.60.

Air Lease Stock Performance

AL opened at $64.87 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.55. Air Lease Corporation has a 1 year low of $38.25 and a 1 year high of $64.96. The stock has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G 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.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $679.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.67 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 35.72% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

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

Air Lease Company Profile

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.