Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Sells 340,440 Shares of Air Lease Corporation $AL

Key Points

• Tudor Investment Corp ET AL trimmed its stake in Air Lease by 89.8%, selling 340,440 shares in Q3 and leaving it with 38,696 shares worth about $2.46 million.
• AQR Capital Management dramatically increased its position by 930.1% to 2,283,492 shares (~$145.3M), while Pentwater, Magnetar and Norges Bank also opened large positions, leaving institutional ownership at 94.59%.
• Air Lease beat EPS expectations ($2.20 vs. $1.46) with revenue up 15.1% year-over-year despite missing sales estimates, announced a $0.22 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.88, ~1.4% yield), and trades near $64.79 with a P/E of 6.96 and market cap of about $7.26B.

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL trimmed its stake in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 89.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,696 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 340,440 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL's holdings in Air Lease were worth $2,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pentwater Capital Management LP bought a new position in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter worth $140,030,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Lease by 930.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,283,492 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $145,321,000 after acquiring an additional 2,061,817 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Air Lease in the third quarter worth about $100,534,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Air Lease in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,910,000. Finally, AQR Arbitrage LLC purchased a new position in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,190,000. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AL shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Air Lease from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.00.

Air Lease Trading Up 0.1%

AL opened at $64.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.65 and a 200 day moving average of $64.13. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.45%.

Air Lease 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.