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

Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of 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 company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 754,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Institutional Trading of Air Lease

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Air Lease during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Air Lease during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Air Lease by 108.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 1,350 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 1,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Air Lease Stock Performance

NYSE AL traded up $0.29 on Wednesday, hitting $44.47. 1,252,114 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,022,713. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.14. Air Lease has a fifty-two week low of $33.33 and a fifty-two week high of $52.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The transportation company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.41). Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 20.85%. The company had revenue of $667.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.93 million. On average, research analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.94%.

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.