New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 374,224 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 12,803 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.34% of Air Lease worth $15,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AL. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Air Lease by 451.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 683,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,937,000 after buying an additional 559,554 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 938,826 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,999,000 after purchasing an additional 302,576 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,669,291 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,787,000 after purchasing an additional 226,908 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,825,501 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,943,000 after purchasing an additional 217,170 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,982,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AL. Barclays raised their target price on Air Lease from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Air Lease from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Lease news, EVP Alex A. Khatibi sold 11,199 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.37, for a total value of $530,496.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 76,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,614,331. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Air Lease news, EVP Alex A. Khatibi sold 11,199 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.37, for a total value of $530,496.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 76,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,614,331. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alex A. Khatibi sold 11,198 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total value of $482,745.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,772,081.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 89,646 shares of company stock valued at $3,705,152. Corporate insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Stock Up 0.2 %

AL stock opened at $51.66 on Monday. Air Lease Co. has a twelve month low of $33.33 and a twelve month high of $52.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.63 and a 200 day moving average of $41.84.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.79. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 22.89%. The company had revenue of $716.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $672.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Air Lease’s payout ratio is 16.31%.

Air Lease Company Profile

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.