Critical Analysis: Air Lease (AL) vs. Its Peers

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) is one of 14 public companies in the “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Air Lease to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Air Lease and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Lease	0	3	2	1	2.67
Air Lease Competitors	141	625	1064	67	2.56

Air Lease currently has a consensus price target of $66.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.61%. As a group, “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” companies have a potential upside of 17.35%. Given Air Lease’s peers higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Air Lease has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.6% of Air Lease shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of shares of all “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” companies are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Air Lease shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.3% of shares of all “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Air Lease and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Air Lease	$3.02 billion	$1.09 billion	6.98
Air Lease Competitors	$3.87 billion	$571.05 million	-28.60

Air Lease’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Air Lease. Air Lease is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Air Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Air Lease pays out 9.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “TRANS – EQP&LSNG” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.4% and pay out 20.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Air Lease has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Air Lease has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Lease’s peers have a beta of 1.48, indicating that their average share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Air Lease and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Lease	35.72%	8.54%	2.13%
Air Lease Competitors	1.11%	11.34%	2.00%

Summary

Air Lease beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Air Lease Company Profile

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. As of December 31, 2023, it owned a fleet of 463 aircraft, including 345 narrowbody aircraft and 118 widebody aircraft. Air Lease Corporation was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.