Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,379 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $1,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AL. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at about $872,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,414,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,115,221 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,508,000 after acquiring an additional 36,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,066,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE AL opened at $47.48 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.63. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $39.43 and a 1 year high of $52.31. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s payout ratio is 26.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.