Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Sells $621,414.00 in Stock

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis sold 11,400 shares of Willis Lease Finance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.51, for a total value of $621,414.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 2,507,743 shares in the company, valued at $136,697,070.93. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WLFC opened at $53.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a 1 year low of $38.00 and a 1 year high of $81.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $194.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $175.00 million. Willis Lease Finance had a net margin of 11.80% and a return on equity of 14.11%.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.133 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Willis Lease Finance’s payout ratio is presently 13.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on WLFC shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Freedom Capital upgraded Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on Willis Lease Finance in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Institutional Trading of Willis Lease Finance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLFC. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Willis Lease Finance by 27,701.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 750,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $171,811,000 after purchasing an additional 748,221 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Willis Lease Finance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,932,000. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $24,747,000. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $16,648,176,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 1,498.3% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 66,008 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after buying an additional 61,878 shares during the last quarter. 93.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Willis Lease Finance

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: WLFC) is an independent global provider of aircraft engine leasing, trading and aftermarket services. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the United States, the company specializes in offering short- and long-term operating leases for jet engines and auxiliary power units. Through its broad engine portfolio, Willis Lease Finance supports a wide range of commercial aircraft across various operators, including major airlines, regional carriers and other leasing companies.

In addition to leasing solutions, Willis Lease Finance offers comprehensive engine trading and asset management services.