Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Barclays

Barclays cut shares of Air Lease (NYSE:AL) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has $65.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $68.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.17.

Air Lease Stock Performance

Air Lease stock opened at $64.21 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.72. 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 has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of 7.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.15. Air Lease has a twelve month low of $38.25 and a twelve month high of $64.40.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.13. Air Lease had a net margin of 35.08% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $725.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Air Lease will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John L. Plueger sold 155,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kishore Korde sold 30,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.90, for a total transaction of $1,927,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 760,593 shares of company stock worth $48,668,588 in the last 90 days. 6.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AL. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Air Lease in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 2,980.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 462 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 129.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 546 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Company Profile

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.