Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $174.58 and traded as high as $197.90. Willis Lease Finance shares last traded at $190.26, with a volume of 135,268 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.25. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.58.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $1.01. The company had revenue of $194.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. Willis Lease Finance had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 19.22%.

Willis Lease Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Willis Lease Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Charles F. Iv Willis sold 9,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.09, for a total value of $1,654,465.43. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 933,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $158,733,771.06. This trade represents a 1.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Austin Chandler Willis sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.55, for a total transaction of $590,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,842,086.25. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,397 shares of company stock worth $3,333,181. 53.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Lease Finance

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLFC. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 1,498.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 66,008 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after acquiring an additional 61,878 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Lease Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,073,000. M3F Inc. grew its holdings in Willis Lease Finance by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. M3F Inc. now owns 606,026 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $83,080,000 after purchasing an additional 39,085 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Willis Lease Finance by 357.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 40,289 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,752,000 after purchasing an additional 31,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Willis Lease Finance by 780.3% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 33,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,537,000 after purchasing an additional 29,652 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.70% of the company’s stock.

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.