Air Lease Corporation $AL Shares Bought by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Air Lease Corporation by 8.3%, now owning 353,072 shares valued at around $17 million after acquiring an additional 27,065 shares.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for Air Lease, with four analysts rating it as a buy and others downgrading the stock to hold, highlighting an average target price of approximately $60.29.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.4%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 3rd.

Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 353,072 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 27,065 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.32% of Air Lease worth $17,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Air Lease by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,592,510 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $318,479,000 after buying an additional 31,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Air Lease by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,453,859 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $263,476,000 after buying an additional 69,629 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Air Lease by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,025,421 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $242,778,000 after buying an additional 60,216 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Air Lease by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,563,297 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $172,143,000 after buying an additional 336,376 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Air Lease by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,353,803 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $162,492,000 after buying an additional 553,080 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity 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 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 owned 19,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,096,048.80. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 6.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AL. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup raised shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Cowen lowered shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Air Lease from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.29.

Air Lease Stock Performance

Shares of Air Lease stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,525,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,334,465. The stock has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.60. Air Lease Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month high of $64.30.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. Air Lease had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The firm had revenue of $731.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $723.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Air Lease's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.