Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Holdings in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired 17,671 shares of Air Lease Corporation, valued at approximately $854,000, indicating institutional interest in the stock.
• Air Lease has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.6%, demonstrating the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.
• Despite a recent stock price decline of 0.3%, Air Lease reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.40, surpassing analyst expectations and indicating a profitable quarter with revenue growth.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,671 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $854,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 19.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,353,803 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $162,492,000 after purchasing an additional 553,080 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,577,931 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $124,282,000 after purchasing an additional 9,809 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,050,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $98,830,000 after purchasing an additional 690,000 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 11.9% in the first quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,773,830 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $85,694,000 after purchasing an additional 188,040 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Air Lease by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,456,910 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $70,238,000 after acquiring an additional 90,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Air Lease

In other news, EVP David Beker sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.44, for a total transaction of $110,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,770 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,048.80. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total transaction of $568,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 146,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,318,064.60. This represents a 6.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.64% of the company's stock.

Air Lease Stock Up 0.5%

AL stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $55.52. 539,787 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 815,603. The firm's 50-day moving average is $57.33 and its 200-day moving average is $51.28. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.74, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Air Lease Corporation has a 12 month low of $38.25 and a 12 month high of $60.41.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $731.70 million during 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 company's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports 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. Citigroup raised Air Lease from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $68.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 target price (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.50.

Air Lease 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.