Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $64.40 and last traded at $64.2750, with a volume of 2235678 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AL shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen lowered shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen cut Air Lease from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.50.

Air Lease Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.84. The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.13. Air Lease had a net margin of 35.08% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $725.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.20%.

Insider Activity at Air Lease

In related news, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 48,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.96, for a total value of $3,070,080.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,638. This trade represents a 77.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gregory B. Willis sold 23,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.83, for a total value of $1,498,792.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 56,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,600,522.64. This trade represents a 29.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 580,789 shares of company stock valued at $37,145,781 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Air Lease

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 11.3% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,244 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,601 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Air Lease by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,908 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Lease by 399.4% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 33,930 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 27,136 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,592,510 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $318,479,000 after buying an additional 31,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the 1st quarter worth approximately $546,000. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Air Lease

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.