Summit Financial LLC Makes New $214,000 Investment in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Summit Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,414 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AL. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 57,256 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in Air Lease by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 31,838 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,535,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,384,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $259,574,000 after buying an additional 362,585 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Air Lease by 5,245.0% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 30,548 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Trading Down 6.9 %

Air Lease stock opened at $42.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Air Lease Co. has a 12 month low of $39.43 and a 12 month high of $52.31. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.97. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is 26.43%.

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.