Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,256 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $2,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Air Lease by 7.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 362,585 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew 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 valued at $155,570,000 after acquiring an additional 389,070 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Air Lease by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $134,332,000 after acquiring an additional 842,780 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 0.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,585,790 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,451,000 after purchasing an additional 42,034 shares during the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Air Lease Price Performance

AL opened at $42.45 on Wednesday. Air Lease Co. has a 1 year low of $38.25 and a 1 year high of $52.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.34.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Air Lease’s payout ratio is 26.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.