Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Raises Position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 23.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 498,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 95,006 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.45% of Air Lease worth $24,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Air Lease by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,655 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Air Lease by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 43,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,098,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Air Lease by 12.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,468 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Air Lease by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Price Performance

NYSE:AL opened at $48.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50-day moving average is $46.96 and its 200 day moving average is $46.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Air Lease Co. has a 12 month low of $39.43 and a 12 month high of $52.31.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America lowered Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

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.