Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) Short Interest Update

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Air Lease from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Air Lease in a report on Monday, July 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. One investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.75.

Air Lease Stock Up 0.7 %

AL stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.47. 1,252,114 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,022,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.59. Air Lease has a 1 year low of $33.33 and a 1 year high of $52.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.14.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The transportation company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $667.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.93 million. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 20.85%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Lease will post 6.68 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AL. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,837 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Air Lease by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,016,326 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,625,000 after purchasing an additional 27,885 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Lease in the fourth quarter worth about $77,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Air Lease by 812.8% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,740 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 22,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,492 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.