Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Sells 31,400 Shares of Stock

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis sold 31,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,819,002.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 2,612,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,338,822.99. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WLFC traded down $2.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $55.09. The stock had a trading volume of 220,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 260,025. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.64. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a 1-year low of $38.00 and a 1-year high of $81.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $194.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.133 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Willis Lease Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Lease Finance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Willis Lease Finance in the second quarter valued at about $68,932,000. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at $24,747,000. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,648,176,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 1,498.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 66,008 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after buying an additional 61,878 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in Willis Lease Finance during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,073,000. 93.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on Willis Lease Finance in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Willis Lease Finance Company Profile

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: WLFC) is an independent global provider of aircraft engine leasing, trading and aftermarket services. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the United States, the company specializes in offering short- and long-term operating leases for jet engines and auxiliary power units. Through its broad engine portfolio, Willis Lease Finance supports a wide range of commercial aircraft across various operators, including major airlines, regional carriers and other leasing companies.

In addition to leasing solutions, Willis Lease Finance offers comprehensive engine trading and asset management services.