Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) Shares Bought by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,577,931 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,809 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 2.31% of Air Lease worth $124,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the 4th quarter worth $5,134,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Air Lease by 83.6% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 782,189 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $37,710,000 after buying an additional 356,127 shares in the last quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Lease in the fourth quarter worth about $981,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 84,707 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,084,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Air Lease by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,050,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $98,830,000 after buying an additional 690,000 shares in the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of Air Lease stock traded up $1.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.28. 422,074 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 760,162. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $45.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.82. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, 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.

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

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 1.82%. Air Lease's payout ratio is 26.43%.

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.