Comerica Bank Sells 20,205 Shares of Air Lease Corporation $AL

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Air Lease Corporation by 18.0%, selling 20,205 shares to own 92,234 shares valued at approximately $4.5 million at the end of the first quarter.
• A number of prominent equity analysts have upgraded their ratings on Air Lease, with Barclays raising its price target to $67.00 and Citigroup increasing theirs to $68.00.
• Air Lease Corporation reported a 9.7% year-over-year revenue increase, achieving $731.7 million in revenue and an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.40 for the recent quarter.

Comerica Bank trimmed its position in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,234 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 20,205 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.08% of Air Lease worth $4,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AL. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 152.4% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 588 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 743 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Engine Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Air Lease during the first quarter valued at about $52,000. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Beker sold 2,000 shares of the 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 directly owned 19,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,096,048.80. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AL shares. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 price target (up from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Air Lease from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup raised Air Lease from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cowen downgraded Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Lease has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.29.

Air Lease Price Performance

NYSE:AL traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,512,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 921,376. Air Lease Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.25 and a fifty-two week high of $64.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.07 and a 200-day moving average of $52.83.

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

Air Lease Announces Dividend

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

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.