AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Air Lease Corporation $AL

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) by 7.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 138,567 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 9,724 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $6,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,592,510 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $318,479,000 after purchasing an additional 31,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Air Lease by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,453,859 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $263,476,000 after buying an additional 69,629 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Air Lease by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,025,421 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $242,778,000 after buying an additional 60,216 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,563,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $172,143,000 after buying an additional 336,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,353,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $162,492,000 after buying an additional 553,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citigroup upgraded Air Lease from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $68.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen lowered Air Lease from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Air Lease from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.29.

Air Lease Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE AL opened at $63.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37. Air Lease Corporation has a 1-year low of $38.25 and a 1-year high of $64.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.79 and a 200-day moving average of $53.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. Air Lease had a return on equity of 7.99% and a net margin of 34.04%.The business had revenue of $731.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $723.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Air Lease news, EVP David Beker sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.44, for a total transaction of $110,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,048.80. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.