William Blair Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Air Lease Corporation $AL

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) by 29.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 348,305 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 143,506 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.31% of Air Lease worth $22,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AL. M3F Inc. grew its stake in shares of Air Lease by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. M3F Inc. now owns 467,901 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,782,000 after acquiring an additional 19,500 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Air Lease by 353.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 15,625 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 12,179 shares during the period. Burren Capital Advisors Ltd purchased a new stake in Air Lease during the third quarter valued at about $3,464,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Air Lease during the third quarter worth about $143,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Air Lease by 110.9% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Air Lease Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AL stock opened at $64.71 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.64. Air Lease Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month high of $64.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.11.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $679.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.67 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 35.72% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 19,000 shares of Air Lease 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 directly owned 1,391,366 shares in the company, valued at $89,214,387.92. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kishore Korde sold 20,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $1,324,434.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 50,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,210,833.10. This trade represents a 29.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 595,958 shares of company stock valued at $38,158,193 over the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AL shares. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price (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 reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.60.

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.