AIA Group Ltd Acquires 1,961 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,838 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,961 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Air Lease by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,384,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $259,574,000 after buying an additional 362,585 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Air Lease by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,410,373 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $155,180,000 after acquiring an additional 25,874 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Air Lease by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,226,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $155,570,000 after purchasing an additional 389,070 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Air Lease by 43.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 842,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,630,317 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $73,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Stock Performance

Shares of AL opened at $48.36 on Tuesday. Air Lease Co. has a one year low of $39.43 and a one year high of $52.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.94. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its 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 net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. On average, analysts anticipate that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America lowered 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 research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.