Insider Selling: Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) EVP Sells $445,940.56 in Stock

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) EVP Scott Flaherty sold 8,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $445,940.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 214,324 shares in the company, valued at $11,479,193.44. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Willis Lease Finance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WLFC opened at $54.74 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a 12 month low of $38.00 and a 12 month high of $81.54.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.41. Willis Lease Finance had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 11.80%.The firm had revenue of $192.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Willis Lease Finance Corporation will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $0.133 dividend. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Willis Lease Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WLFC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $80.00 price objective on Willis Lease Finance and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of Willis Lease Finance in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Willis Lease Finance to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Lease Finance

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC acquired a new position in Willis Lease Finance in the second quarter valued at $16,648,176,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter worth about $68,932,000. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter worth about $24,747,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,423,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,495,000. 93.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willis Lease Finance Company Profile

Willis Lease Finance Corporation is an aviation services company that provides commercial aircraft engines, auxiliary power units and related equipment to airlines, aircraft operators and other aviation customers. The company’s leasing activities include short-term and long-term operating leases, as well as engine and equipment financing solutions designed to support fleet operations and maintenance planning.

In addition to leasing, Willis Lease Finance offers engine management, maintenance and asset management services.