Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $59.27 and last traded at $58.04, with a volume of 1456059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AL. Citigroup upgraded Air Lease from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America cut shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of Air Lease in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.43.

Air Lease Trading Up 1.6%

The firm has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $738.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.70 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Air Lease’s payout ratio is currently 15.38%.

Insider Transactions at Air Lease

In other news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total transaction of $568,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,318,064.60. This represents a 6.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Lease

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Air Lease during the fourth quarter worth $49,415,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $134,332,000 after purchasing an additional 842,780 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,050,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $98,830,000 after purchasing an additional 690,000 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Air Lease during the 4th quarter worth about $31,414,000. Finally, M3F Inc. purchased a new position in Air Lease in the 1st quarter valued at about $19,776,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Company Profile

Air Lease Corporation, an aircraft leasing company, engages in the purchase and leasing of commercial jet aircraft to airlines worldwide. It sells aircraft from its fleet to third parties, including other leasing companies, financial services companies, airlines, and other investors. The company provides fleet management services to investors and owners of aircraft portfolios.