Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 842,780 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 842,780 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 2.51% of Air Lease worth $134,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 0.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 53,625 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,429,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 12.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,468 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 11.9% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,819 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Air Lease by 20.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,345 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Air Lease from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.60.

Air Lease Price Performance

NYSE AL traded up $3.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.46. 1,095,357 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 597,716. The company has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.59. Air Lease Co. has a 12-month low of $39.35 and a 12-month high of $52.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 19.58%. As a group, analysts predict that Air Lease Co. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease's payout ratio is 20.05%.

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.