Capital Research Global Investors Purchases 690,000 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 50.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,050,000 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 690,000 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned 1.84% of Air Lease worth $98,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AL. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Air Lease by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,708 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,655 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 45,851 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,210,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in Air Lease by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 43,524 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,098,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Air Lease by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Lease presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.67.

Air Lease Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AL traded up $0.25 on Friday, reaching $45.84. 894,228 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 760,941. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.34. Air Lease Co. has a 52 week low of $38.25 and a 52 week high of $52.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $45.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.73.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Air Lease's payout ratio is currently 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.