Air Lease Corporation $AL Shares Sold by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Air Lease Corporation by 0.3%, selling 7,781 shares and now holding approximately 2,570,150 shares worth $124 million.
• Air Lease reported a strong quarterly earnings beat with $1.40 EPS compared to an expected $1.33, and revenues reached $731.7 million, exceeding forecasts.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.22 on October 8, representing an annualized yield of 1.5%, with a payout ratio of 10.68%.

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its stake in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,570,150 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 7,781 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 2.30% of Air Lease worth $124,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 3.6% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 14,793 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 18.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,410 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the first quarter worth about $348,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Air Lease in the first quarter worth about $1,347,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 11.3% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,244 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,186,000 after buying an additional 4,601 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In other news, EVP David Beker sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.44, for a total value of $110,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,770 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,048.80. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Air Lease Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AL traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.13. The stock had a trading volume of 560,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 802,347. The company has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.58. Air Lease Corporation has a 1 year low of $38.25 and a 1 year high of $61.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47.

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

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Air Lease from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 target price (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Air Lease from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.50.

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.