American Century Companies Inc. Buys 389,070 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,226,921 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 389,070 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.90% of Air Lease worth $155,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AL. State Street Corp raised its stake in Air Lease by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,410,373 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $155,180,000 after buying an additional 25,874 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $134,332,000 after acquiring an additional 842,780 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,630,317 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $73,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,190 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,585,790 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $76,451,000 after purchasing an additional 42,034 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,141,594 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $55,036,000 after purchasing an additional 26,373 shares in the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Air Lease Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AL traded down $0.51 on Tuesday, hitting $48.99. 419,010 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 737,711. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.72. Air Lease Co. has a 52 week low of $39.43 and a 52 week high of $52.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

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

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America downgraded Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.67.

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.