Earnest Partners LLC Grows Stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,577,931 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,809 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 2.31% of Air Lease worth $124,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Air Lease by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,384,230 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $259,574,000 after buying an additional 362,585 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Air Lease by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,226,921 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $155,570,000 after purchasing an additional 389,070 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Air Lease by 43.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Air Lease by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,050,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $98,830,000 after purchasing an additional 690,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its holdings 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 worth $76,451,000 after purchasing an additional 42,034 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Air Lease in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Stock Performance

Shares of AL stock opened at $45.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.34. Air Lease Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.25 and a fifty-two week high of $52.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.75.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 EPS 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%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Air Lease's payout ratio is presently 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.

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