Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $64.63 and last traded at $64.55, with a volume of 1391660 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Air Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Lease presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.17.

Air Lease Stock Up 0.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.54. The company has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.13.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.13. Air Lease had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 35.08%.The firm had revenue of $725.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In related news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 20,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $1,324,434.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,210,833.10. This represents a 29.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $64,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,206 shares in the company, valued at $8,822,345.80. The trade was a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 760,593 shares of company stock worth $48,668,588 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the third quarter valued at about $140,030,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Air Lease by 930.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,283,492 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $145,321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061,817 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Air Lease by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,818,667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $181,043,000 after buying an additional 2,056,637 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $100,534,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Air Lease in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,910,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

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.