State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Purchases 318 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 43,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AL. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Air Lease in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Air Lease during the third quarter valued at $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Air Lease by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Air Lease by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,655 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Air Lease by 20.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,345 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Price Performance

AL opened at $47.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.43. 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 cap of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.59. Air Lease Co. has a 1 year low of $39.39 and a 1 year high of $52.31.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. Sell-side analysts predict that Air Lease Co. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Lease presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.50.

Air Lease Profile

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.