First Trust Advisors LP Buys 96,341 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 710,088 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 96,341 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.64% of Air Lease worth $34,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,384,230 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $259,574,000 after acquiring an additional 362,585 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Air Lease by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,226,921 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $155,570,000 after purchasing an additional 389,070 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Air Lease by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $134,332,000 after buying an additional 842,780 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its holdings in Air Lease by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,585,790 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $76,451,000 after buying an additional 42,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Air Lease by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,141,594 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $55,036,000 after buying an additional 26,373 shares during the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.67.

Air Lease Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE AL traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $46.84. 1,081,348 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 760,992. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.34. The company's 50-day moving average is $45.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.80. Air Lease Co. has a one year low of $38.25 and a one year high of $52.31.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. On average, analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease's payout ratio is 26.43%.

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.