Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis Sells 13,500 Shares

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.47, for a total transaction of $735,345.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 2,535,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,127,368.21. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Willis Lease Finance Price Performance

Shares of WLFC stock opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a 52-week low of $38.00 and a 52-week high of $81.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.49.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $194.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.133 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Willis Lease Finance’s payout ratio is 13.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Willis Lease Finance in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Institutional Trading of Willis Lease Finance

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

Willis Lease Finance Company Profile

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.