Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on WLFC. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of Willis Lease Finance in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Freedom Capital upgraded Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $80.00 target price on Willis Lease Finance and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Lease Finance has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

Willis Lease Finance Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Willis Lease Finance stock opened at $56.19 on Wednesday. Willis Lease Finance has a 52-week low of $38.00 and a 52-week high of $81.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.49.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.41. Willis Lease Finance had a net margin of 11.80% and a return on equity of 14.11%. The company had revenue of $192.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. On average, analysts expect that Willis Lease Finance will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.133 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Willis Lease Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.28%.

Insider Transactions at Willis Lease Finance

In other Willis Lease Finance news, CEO Austin Willis sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $808,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 420,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,685,863.20. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Charles F. Iv Willis sold 15,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total transaction of $859,716.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 2,492,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,342,000.73. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 197,252 shares of company stock valued at $11,565,300 in the last quarter. 53.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Willis Lease Finance by 27,701.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 750,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $171,811,000 after purchasing an additional 748,221 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the second quarter worth $68,932,000. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the second quarter worth $24,747,000. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the second quarter valued at $16,648,176,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 1,498.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 66,008 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after buying an additional 61,878 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.70% of the company’s stock.

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.