Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) saw a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,120,000 shares, a drop of 11.4% from the August 15th total of 3,520,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 754,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AL. Barclays dropped their price target on Air Lease from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Air Lease in a report on Monday, July 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Air Lease from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Lease

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease in the second quarter worth $29,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Air Lease during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management lifted its holdings in Air Lease by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 1,350 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 108.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Air Lease during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Air Lease Price Performance

AL traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.47. The stock had a trading volume of 1,252,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,022,713. Air Lease has a 1 year low of $33.33 and a 1 year high of $52.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.45 and a 200 day moving average of $47.14. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.59.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The transportation company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $667.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.93 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 20.85% and a return on equity of 8.97%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Air Lease will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.94%.

Air Lease Company 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.