GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Takes Position in Air Lease Corporation $AL

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. acquired a new position in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 183,356 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,671,000. Air Lease comprises about 1.9% of GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Air Lease by 2,980.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 462 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Air Lease during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Air Lease during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 273.2% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 556 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Air Lease by 129.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of 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 reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.60.

Insider Transactions at Air Lease

In related news, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 64,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $4,097,280.00. Following the sale, the director owned 74,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,737,480. This represents a 46.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 50,091 shares in the company, valued at $3,210,833.10. This represents a 29.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 542,625 shares of company stock worth $34,743,668. 6.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Air Lease Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Air Lease stock opened at $64.62 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.70. Air Lease Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.25 and a fifty-two week high of $64.96. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $679.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.67 million. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 35.72%.The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

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