Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Lowered to Hold Rating by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Key Points

• Air Lease has been downgraded by Deutsche Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, with a new price target of $65.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.19% from its current stock price.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts, including Barclays and Citigroup, have set higher price targets, suggesting a mixed sentiment around Air Lease’s stock performance.
• Air Lease reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.40, surpassing analysts' expectations, and revenue increased by 9.7% year-over-year to $731.70 million.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $65.00 price target on the transportation company's stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft's target price would suggest a potential upside of 2.05% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Air Lease from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised Air Lease from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $68.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.29.

Air Lease Price Performance

AL traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.69. 4,316,695 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,676,346. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. Air Lease has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month high of $64.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.10. The company has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.73, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. Air Lease had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $731.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $723.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Air Lease will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Lease news, EVP David Beker sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.44, for a total transaction of $110,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,096,048.80. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Lease

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AL. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Air Lease by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,358,362 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $65,487,000 after purchasing an additional 110,877 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 128,843 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,576 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,063 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,506 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.