Wellington Management Group LLP Grows Stock Position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,384,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 362,585 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 4.82% of Air Lease worth $259,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AL. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Air Lease by 5,245.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted 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 worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the fourth quarter worth about $686,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Air Lease during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,415,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in Air Lease by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 498,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,049,000 after purchasing an additional 95,006 shares during the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Air Lease Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:AL opened at $48.44 on Wednesday. Air Lease Co. has a 1-year low of $39.43 and a 1-year high of $52.31. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. On average, equities analysts predict that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.