Public Sector Pension Investment Board Grows Stock Position in Air Lease Corporation $AL

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) by 15.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 409,795 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,458 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $26,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 198.0% during the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 18,666 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 12,402 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in Air Lease during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,473,000. High Ground Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,957,000. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Lease in the 2nd quarter valued at about $402,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Air Lease by 104.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 35,641 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,269,000 after acquiring an additional 18,195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Air Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.17.

Air Lease Stock Performance

Shares of AL stock opened at $64.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.13. Air Lease Corporation has a 52-week low of $38.25 and a 52-week high of $64.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $64.32 and its 200 day moving average is $62.85.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.74. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.63% and a net margin of 35.72%.The business had revenue of $679.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In other Air Lease news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 30,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.90, for a total value of $1,927,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 79,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,064,905.70. The trade was a 27.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John L. Plueger sold 155,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $9,977,218.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 725,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,482,002.23. The trade was a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 692,185 shares of company stock worth $44,301,155 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

About Air Lease

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.