Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. Invests $2.01 Million in Air Lease Corporation $AL

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald bought a new stake of 31,576 shares in Air Lease valued at about $2.01 million in Q3; other big institutional moves include AQR adding ~2.06 million shares and Magnetar initiating a ~ $100.5 million stake, leaving institutional investors with roughly 94.59% ownership.
• Air Lease beat earnings expectations with $2.20 EPS versus $1.46 consensus (beat by $0.74) while revenue of $679.5M missed estimates, and the stock trades near a 12‑month high with a market cap of $7.23B and a PE of 6.93.
• Insiders have been net sellers—89,294 shares (~$5.73M) sold in the last 90 days, including sales by Director Steven F. Udvar‑Hazy and EVP Kishore Korde—while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 (1.4% yield) payable April 7 (ex‑dividend March 2).

Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. purchased a new stake in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 31,576 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $2,010,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,591,387 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $419,540,000 after purchasing an additional 41,975 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,459,048 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $203,084,000 after purchasing an additional 28,227 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Lease by 930.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,283,492 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $145,321,000 after buying an additional 2,061,817 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $100,534,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Air Lease by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,235,262 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $72,250,000 after buying an additional 48,413 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AL. Zacks Research upgraded Air Lease from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 48,632 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction of $3,121,201.76. Following the sale, the director owned 14,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $901,729. This trade represents a 77.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kishore Korde sold 20,662 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $1,324,434.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,210,833.10. The trade was a 29.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,294 shares of company stock worth $5,728,216. 6.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Air Lease Stock Performance

AL stock opened at $64.53 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $64.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. Air Lease Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month high of $64.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 6.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.11.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.74. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 35.72%.The business had revenue of $679.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.45%.

Air Lease Company Profile

Air Lease Corporation NYSE: AL is a leading aircraft leasing company that acquires commercial jet aircraft and leases them to airlines worldwide. The firm's core business activities include direct aircraft acquisition, lease management and portfolio remarketing. By structuring sale‐and‐leaseback transactions, operating leases and secured loans, Air Lease provides flexible financing solutions that enable carriers to modernize their fleets without committing large amounts of capital to ownership.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Los Angeles, Air Lease Corporation serves a diverse customer base spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

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