Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 229.9% to 2.04 million shares as of July 31, representing approximately 20.7% of Willis Lease Finance’s outstanding stock and an eight-day short-interest ratio.
• Analyst views were mixed, with UBS setting a $71 price target, Weiss Ratings downgrading the stock to Hold, and Freedom Capital upgrading it to Strong Buy. MarketBeat’s consensus remains Buy with a $71 target.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.31 in EPS versus a $0.90 estimate and revenue of $194.02 million versus $175 million expected. Shares recently traded at $54.24, while institutional investors owned 93.7% of the stock.

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,040,210 shares, an increase of 229.9% from the July 15th total of 618,367 shares. Approximately 20.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 255,243 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WLFC. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of Willis Lease Finance in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Willis Lease Finance from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Willis Lease Finance from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Lease Finance

In other news, CEO Austin Chandler Willis sold 15,000 shares of Willis Lease Finance stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.34, for a total transaction of $1,100,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 435,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,968,025.92. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 53.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the second quarter valued at approximately $68,932,000. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $24,747,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in Willis Lease Finance by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 101,386 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,899,000 after acquiring an additional 9,052 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Willis Lease Finance by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 92,194 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $12,639,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Willis Lease Finance by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 73,452 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $9,965,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.70% of the company's stock.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WLFC traded down $2.80 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.24. 92,051 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 277,382. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Willis Lease Finance has a 12 month low of $38.00 and a 12 month high of $81.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.66 and a 200-day moving average of $65.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.41. Willis Lease Finance had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 11.80%.The business had revenue of $194.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.133 dividend. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Willis Lease Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.28%.

About Willis Lease Finance

Willis Lease Finance Corporation NASDAQ: WLFC is an independent global provider of aircraft engine leasing, trading and aftermarket services. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the United States, the company specializes in offering short- and long-term operating leases for jet engines and auxiliary power units. Through its broad engine portfolio, Willis Lease Finance supports a wide range of commercial aircraft across various operators, including major airlines, regional carriers and other leasing companies.

In addition to leasing solutions, Willis Lease Finance offers comprehensive engine trading and asset management services.

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