Charles Iv Willis Sells 16,700 Shares of Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) Stock

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) Chairman Charles Iv Willis sold 16,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $920,504.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 2,519,143 shares in the company, valued at $138,855,162.16. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of WLFC opened at $54.62 on Wednesday. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a 52-week low of $38.00 and a 52-week high of $81.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 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 analyst estimates of $175.00 million.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.133 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Willis Lease Finance’s payout ratio is 13.28%.

Institutional Trading of Willis Lease Finance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLFC. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Willis Lease Finance by 1.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 4.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the first quarter valued at about $563,000. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance by 951.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,346 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,904,000 after acquiring an additional 24,745 shares during the period. 93.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WLFC. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of Willis Lease Finance in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Willis Lease Finance currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

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.