First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Increases Holdings in Air Lease Corporation $AL

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) by 198.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,666 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 12,402 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $1,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AL. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 34,793 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 56,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 41,004 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,398,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 14,131 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 35,419 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Air Lease news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.57, for a total transaction of $317,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,983,458.12. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David Beker sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $317,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $887,514.10. This trade represents a 26.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $746,380 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AL. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen lowered Air Lease from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Cowen lowered Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.29.

Air Lease Stock Down 0.1%

AL opened at $63.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.15. Air Lease Corporation has a 52 week low of $38.25 and a 52 week high of $64.30. The company has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. Air Lease had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $731.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $723.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is 10.68%.

Air Lease 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.