Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $55.80 and last traded at $55.51, with a volume of 961331 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AL. StockNews.com raised Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

Air Lease Trading Up 0.4%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.38%.

Insider Activity at Air Lease

In other Air Lease news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,318,064.60. The trade was a 6.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Air Lease in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 4th quarter valued at $31,414,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 104.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 43,981 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,022,459 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,293,000 after purchasing an additional 131,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the fourth quarter worth $1,127,000. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

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.