T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 83.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 782,189 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 356,127 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.70% of Air Lease worth $37,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AL. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Air Lease during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Lease in the fourth quarter valued at $31,414,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Air Lease by 104.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,033 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 43,981 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 69,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,585,790 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $76,451,000 after purchasing an additional 42,034 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Stock Performance

NYSE AL traded up $0.22 on Thursday, hitting $46.98. 1,015,083 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 826,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Air Lease Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.25 and a fifty-two week high of $52.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $45.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.80.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease's payout ratio is 26.43%.

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.