Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) Stock Position Trimmed by Sapience Investments LLC

Sapience Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,268 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,490 shares during the period. Sapience Investments LLC’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,384,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $259,574,000 after acquiring an additional 362,585 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Air Lease by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,226,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $155,570,000 after buying an additional 389,070 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Air Lease by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $134,332,000 after buying an additional 842,780 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Air Lease by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,577,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $124,282,000 after buying an additional 9,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Air Lease by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,050,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $98,830,000 after buying an additional 690,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AL opened at $57.48 on Friday. Air Lease Co. has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month high of $57.80. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $47.10 and a 200-day moving average of $47.54. 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 (NYSE:AL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $738.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.70 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In related news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total value of $568,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 146,316 shares in the company, valued at $8,318,064.60. This represents a 6.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

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.