Air Lease (NYSE:AL) CFO Sells $1,498,792.23 in Stock

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) CFO Gregory Willis sold 23,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.83, for a total transaction of $1,498,792.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,408 shares in the company, valued at $3,600,522.64. This trade represents a 29.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Air Lease Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE AL opened at $63.76 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.97. The company has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 7.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.36. Air Lease Corporation has a 52-week low of $38.25 and a 52-week high of $64.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $725.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.59 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.20%.

Institutional Trading of Air Lease

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease during the 3rd quarter worth $9,548,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter worth $757,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in Air Lease by 32,960.0% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 3,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Air Lease by 53.3% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 14,268 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new stake in Air Lease in the third quarter worth about $636,000. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AL. Zacks Research downgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Air Lease from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cowen lowered shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.29.

About Air Lease

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.