Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.67.

Several analysts have recently commented on AL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America lowered 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 report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AL. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Air Lease by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 56,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,655 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 45,851 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 9,564 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Price Performance

Air Lease stock opened at $55.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.23. Air Lease has a 52 week low of $38.25 and a 52 week high of $55.80.

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

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.38%.

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.