Charles Iv Willis Sells 15,600 Shares of Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Stock

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis sold 15,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total value of $859,716.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 2,492,143 shares in the company, valued at $137,342,000.73. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Willis Lease Finance Trading Down 3.1%

Willis Lease Finance stock opened at $53.42 on Friday. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a 52-week low of $38.00 and a 52-week high of $81.54. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.19.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $194.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.00 million. Willis Lease Finance had a net margin of 11.80% and a return on equity of 14.11%.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $0.133 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Willis Lease Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Lease Finance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLFC. Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 780.3% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 33,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,537,000 after purchasing an additional 29,652 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the 4th quarter valued at $1,462,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC now owns 102,259 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,870,000 after buying an additional 3,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carlson Capital L.P. bought a new position in Willis Lease Finance in the 1st quarter worth $528,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WLFC. Weiss Ratings lowered Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on Willis Lease Finance in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Lease Finance has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

About Willis Lease Finance

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: WLFC) is an independent global provider of aircraft engine leasing, trading and aftermarket services. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the United States, the company specializes in offering short- and long-term operating leases for jet engines and auxiliary power units. Through its broad engine portfolio, Willis Lease Finance supports a wide range of commercial aircraft across various operators, including major airlines, regional carriers and other leasing companies.

In addition to leasing solutions, Willis Lease Finance offers comprehensive engine trading and asset management services.