Corton Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in Air Lease Corporation $AL

Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 6,876 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AL. M3F Inc. bought a new stake in Air Lease during the 1st quarter worth approximately $19,776,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Air Lease by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,563,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $172,143,000 after acquiring an additional 336,376 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Air Lease by 18,200.7% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 335,268 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,197,000 after acquiring an additional 333,436 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Air Lease by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,619,226 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $211,797,000 after acquiring an additional 265,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 1,675.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 204,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,855,000 after purchasing an additional 192,508 shares during the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AL shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen lowered shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Air Lease from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.29.

Air Lease Stock Performance

AL opened at $63.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.23. Air Lease Corporation has a 1-year low of $38.25 and a 1-year high of $64.30. The company has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $731.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $723.35 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Air Lease news, EVP David Beker sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $317,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,970 shares in the company, valued at $887,514.10. This trade represents a 26.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.57, for a total transaction of $317,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,983,458.12. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $746,380. 6.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Air Lease 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.