Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases Shares of 20,351 Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 20,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Air Lease in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,414,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Air Lease by 104.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after buying an additional 43,981 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 830,047 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,591,000 after buying an additional 69,887 shares during the period. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,585,790 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,451,000 after acquiring an additional 42,034 shares in the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Price Performance

AL stock opened at $43.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.34. Air Lease Co. has a 52-week low of $38.25 and a 52-week high of $52.31.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. Research analysts expect that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.