Earnest Partners LLC Has $112.49 Million Stake in Air Lease Corporation $AL

Earnest Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) by 31.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,767,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 812,415 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 1.58% of Air Lease worth $112,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Air Lease by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 3,415 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its holdings in Air Lease by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 3,982 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Air Lease by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 799 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Air Lease by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 75.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 546 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 20,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $1,324,434.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,210,833.10. This represents a 29.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 48,632 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $3,121,201.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,729. The trade was a 77.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 89,294 shares of company stock valued at $5,728,216 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Air Lease Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AL opened at $64.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.11. Air Lease Corporation has a one year low of $38.25 and a one year high of $64.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.97. 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 (NYSE:AL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $679.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.67 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 35.72% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Air Lease’s payout ratio is presently 9.45%.

About Air Lease

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.