Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes $862,000 Position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 17,875 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $862,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Air Lease by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,384,230 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $259,574,000 after purchasing an additional 362,585 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,226,921 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $155,570,000 after acquiring an additional 389,070 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $134,332,000 after acquiring an additional 842,780 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 0.4% during 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. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Air Lease by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,050,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $98,830,000 after purchasing an additional 690,000 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AL shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Lease from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.67.

Air Lease Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Air Lease stock traded down $0.39 on Friday, hitting $53.23. 409,073 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 765,056. Air Lease Co. has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month high of $54.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.05.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $738.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $709.70 million. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Air Lease's payout ratio is presently 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.