Financial Contrast: Air Lease (AL) & Its Competitors

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) is one of 14 public companies in the “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Air Lease to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Air Lease has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Lease’s peers have a beta of 1.48, suggesting that their average stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Air Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Air Lease pays out 9.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.3% and pay out 20.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Air Lease has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Air Lease is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Air Lease and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Air Lease	$3.02 billion	$1.09 billion	6.98
Air Lease Competitors	$3.87 billion	$571.05 million	-32.76

Air Lease’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Air Lease. Air Lease is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Air Lease and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Lease	0	3	2	1	2.67
Air Lease Competitors	141	626	1065	67	2.56

Air Lease currently has a consensus target price of $66.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.55%. As a group, “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” companies have a potential upside of 11.05%. Given Air Lease’s peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Air Lease has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Air Lease and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Lease	35.72%	8.54%	2.13%
Air Lease Competitors	1.11%	11.34%	2.00%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.6% of Air Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of shares of all “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” companies are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Air Lease shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.3% of shares of all “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Air Lease beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. As of December 31, 2023, it owned a fleet of 463 aircraft, including 345 narrowbody aircraft and 118 widebody aircraft. Air Lease Corporation was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.