Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) Short Interest Up 7.4% in December

Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,890,000 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the November 30th total of 2,690,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 668,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Lease

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Air Lease by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 830,047 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,591,000 after acquiring an additional 69,887 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Air Lease in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Air Lease during the third quarter worth approximately $202,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,630,317 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Air Lease by 104.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 43,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Air Lease from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.60.

Air Lease Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AL opened at $48.21 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.50. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.61. Air Lease has a twelve month low of $39.15 and a twelve month high of $52.31.

Air Lease Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This is a positive change from Air Lease’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Air Lease’s payout ratio is presently 20.05%.

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.