Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AL. Zacks Research upgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Air Lease Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AL opened at $64.66 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.90. Air Lease has a 12 month low of $38.25 and a 12 month high of $64.96.

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. Analysts expect that Air Lease will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Lease news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 20,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $1,324,434.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 50,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,210,833.10. This trade represents a 29.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 1,000 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $64,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,822,345.80. This trade represents a 0.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 227,804 shares of company stock worth $14,592,887. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Air Lease

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

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.