JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Stake in Air Lease Corporation $AL

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) by 86.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 654,102 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,142,874 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.59% of Air Lease worth $41,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Air Lease by 2,980.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 462 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Air Lease in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Air Lease by 273.2% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 556 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Lease by 129.6% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Trading Up 0.1%

Air Lease stock opened at $64.90 on Friday. Air Lease Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month high of $64.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.74. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 35.72%.The firm had revenue of $679.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.67 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Air Lease’s payout ratio is 9.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AL shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Lease has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In related news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $64,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,822,345.80. This represents a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.12, for a total transaction of $1,218,280.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,391,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,214,387.92. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 595,958 shares of company stock valued at $38,158,193. 6.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.