Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) Short Interest Up 57.4% in March

Key Points

• Short interest up 57.4% in March to 5,609,535 shares, equal to 5.4% of shares short and a short-interest ratio of about 2.5 days based on average daily volume.
• Air Lease beat EPS estimates with $2.20 per share (vs. $1.46 expected) but missed revenue expectations; the company reported a 35.72% net margin and sell-side analysts project $5.16 EPS for the fiscal year.
• The stock carries a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $66.00, and the company pays a $0.22 quarterly dividend (approximately a 1.4% yield).

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,609,535 shares, an increase of 57.4% from the March 15th total of 3,563,640 shares. Currently, 5.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,283,134 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AL. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Air Lease from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Lease

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Air Lease during the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Air Lease by 2,980.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 462 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Air Lease during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Air Lease during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Air Lease by 129.6% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Air Lease Stock Performance

AL opened at $65.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.76 and a 200 day moving average of $64.24. Air Lease has a fifty-two week low of $38.25 and a fifty-two week high of $65.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $679.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $782.67 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 35.72% and a return on equity of 8.54%. Air Lease's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Lease will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.45%.

About Air Lease

Air Lease Corporation NYSE: AL is a leading aircraft leasing company that acquires commercial jet aircraft and leases them to airlines worldwide. The firm's core business activities include direct aircraft acquisition, lease management and portfolio remarketing. By structuring sale‐and‐leaseback transactions, operating leases and secured loans, Air Lease provides flexible financing solutions that enable carriers to modernize their fleets without committing large amounts of capital to ownership.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Los Angeles, Air Lease Corporation serves a diverse customer base spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

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