Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis Sells 16,300 Shares of Stock

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis sold 16,300 shares of Willis Lease Finance stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $879,874.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 2,549,343 shares in the company, valued at $137,613,535.14. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Willis Lease Finance Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of WLFC stock opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.49. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a twelve month low of $38.00 and a twelve month high of $81.54.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $194.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. Willis Lease Finance had a net margin of 11.80% and a return on equity of 14.11%.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.133 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Willis Lease Finance’s payout ratio is presently 13.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLFC. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Willis Lease Finance by 1.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 4.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 1st quarter valued at about $563,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Willis Lease Finance in the second quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Willis Lease Finance by 951.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,346 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,904,000 after purchasing an additional 24,745 shares during the last quarter. 93.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WLFC. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on Willis Lease Finance in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Willis Lease Finance Company Profile

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: WLFC) is an independent global provider of aircraft engine leasing, trading and aftermarket services. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the United States, the company specializes in offering short- and long-term operating leases for jet engines and auxiliary power units. Through its broad engine portfolio, Willis Lease Finance supports a wide range of commercial aircraft across various operators, including major airlines, regional carriers and other leasing companies.

In addition to leasing solutions, Willis Lease Finance offers comprehensive engine trading and asset management services.