QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Air Lease Corporation $AL

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Air Lease Corporation by 123.6% in the 2nd quarter, reaching a total of 16,718 shares worth $978,000.
• Several brokerage analysts have recently modified their ratings for Air Lease, with Barclays upgrading its price target to $67.00, while others like Deutsche Bank and TD Cowen downgraded their ratings.
• Air Lease Corporation declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, which provides an annual yield of 1.4%, reflecting the company's solid financial health.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 123.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,718 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,241 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Air Lease were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AL. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Air Lease by 0.7% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 34,793 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Air Lease by 0.5% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 56,306 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,720,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Air Lease by 2.1% in the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 14,131 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Air Lease by 152.4% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 588 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 4.4% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,643 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AL. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen lowered Air Lease from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cowen lowered Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Lease has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.29.

Insider Activity at Air Lease

In other news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.57, for a total transaction of $317,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 141,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,983,458.12. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Beker sold 5,000 shares of Air Lease stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $317,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,970 shares in the company, valued at $887,514.10. The trade was a 26.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $746,380 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.64% of the company's stock.

Air Lease Price Performance

AL stock opened at $63.60 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.88 and a 200-day moving average of $55.76. Air Lease Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month 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 cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. Air Lease had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $731.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $723.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

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

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.

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