Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,558 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,074 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.10% of Air Lease worth $4,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Air Lease by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 10,343 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Air Lease by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 50,266 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Air Lease by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,798 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in Air Lease by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Air Lease by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,716 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Air Lease Stock Performance

NYSE:AL opened at $51.40 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.07 and its 200 day moving average is $41.56. Air Lease Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.33 and a fifty-two week high of $51.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.79. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 22.89%. The company had revenue of $716.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $672.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Air Lease’s quarterly revenue was up 19.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Lease Co. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Air Lease’s payout ratio is presently 16.31%.

Insider Activity at Air Lease

In related news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 16,593 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.70, for a total transaction of $658,742.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 112,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,461,287.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Air Lease news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 16,593 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.70, for a total value of $658,742.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 112,375 shares in the company, valued at $4,461,287.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John L. Plueger sold 19,095 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.27, for a total value of $768,955.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 859,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,598,091.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,646 shares of company stock worth $3,705,152. Company insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on AL shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Air Lease from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays increased their target price on Air Lease from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.25.

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.