Amundi Sells 10,079 Shares of Air Lease Corporation $AL

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its stake in Air Lease Corporation by 19.0%, holding 43,009 shares after offloading 10,079 shares during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Air Lease, with Cowen and Deutsche Bank downgrading it to a "hold," while Citigroup upgraded to "buy" with a new price target of $68.00.
• Air Lease recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 1.4% and a payout ratio of 10.68%.

Amundi decreased its position in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,009 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 10,079 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in Air Lease were worth $1,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AL. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,353,803 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $162,492,000 after acquiring an additional 553,080 shares in the last quarter. M3F Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the 1st quarter valued at $19,776,000. Waverton Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the 1st quarter valued at $18,312,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,563,297 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $172,143,000 after acquiring an additional 336,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Air Lease by 18,200.7% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 335,268 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $16,197,000 after purchasing an additional 333,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Beker sold 5,000 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $317,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,970 shares in the company, valued at $887,514.10. The trade was a 26.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.57, for a total value of $317,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 141,316 shares in the company, valued at $8,983,458.12. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $746,380 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Cowen downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 price target (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.29.

Air Lease Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AL traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $63.56. 2,233,740 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,988,769. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37. Air Lease Corporation has a 52 week low of $38.25 and a 52 week high of $64.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.04.

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

Air Lease Announces Dividend

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

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.