Air Lease (NYSE:AL) Sees Large Volume Increase - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Air Lease Corporation experienced a significant increase in trading volume, with nearly 3.9 million shares traded, marking a 281% rise from the previous day.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Air Lease, with Citigroup upgrading the stock to a "buy" rating and raising the price target to $68, while others like TD Cowen downgraded it to "hold".
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $1.40, exceeding estimates, along with a revenue of $731.7 million, reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.7%.

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 3,856,753 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 281% from the previous session's volume of 1,013,186 shares.The stock last traded at $63.54 and had previously closed at $63.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AL. Citigroup raised Air Lease from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $68.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Cowen cut Air Lease from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 price target (up from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Cowen lowered shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Lease has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.29.

Air Lease Trading Down 0.1%

The firm has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.38.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $731.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $723.35 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Air Lease news, EVP David Beker sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.44, for a total value of $110,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,096,048.80. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Lease

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 3.6% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 14,793 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 18.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,410 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Air Lease in the first quarter valued at $348,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Air Lease in the 1st quarter valued at $1,347,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,244 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,186,000 after buying an additional 4,601 shares in the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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