Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) is Royce & Associates LP’s 2nd Largest Position

Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,457,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 418,189 shares during the period. Air Lease accounts for 1.1% of Royce & Associates LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $118,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Air Lease by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,410,373 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $155,180,000 after acquiring an additional 25,874 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $134,332,000 after purchasing an additional 842,780 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,630,317 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its position in Air Lease by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,585,790 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $76,451,000 after purchasing an additional 42,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Air Lease by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,141,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,036,000 after buying an additional 26,373 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Lease has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Stock Performance

NYSE:AL opened at $46.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60. Air Lease Co. has a 1-year low of $39.43 and a 1-year high of $52.31.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. On average, research analysts expect that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s payout ratio is currently 26.43%.

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.