Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,763 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Air Lease by 43.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 842,780 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Air Lease during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $18,289,000. Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new stake in Air Lease during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,066,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Air Lease by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 161,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,297,000 after purchasing an additional 84,016 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Air Lease by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,875,522 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $130,232,000 after purchasing an additional 70,299 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Air Lease Stock Performance

NYSE:AL opened at $47.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Air Lease Co. has a 1 year low of $39.40 and a 1 year high of $52.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.54. The company has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.