First Eagle Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258,187 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 52,500 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 0.23% of Air Lease worth $12,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Air Lease by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,708 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,480,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Air Lease by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,655 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Air Lease by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 53,625 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,429,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in Air Lease by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 43,524 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,098,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Air Lease by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,468 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Air Lease Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE AL traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $47.48. The stock had a trading volume of 604,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,076. The company's 50 day moving average price is $46.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.62. The firm has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. Air Lease Co. has a twelve month low of $39.43 and a twelve month high of $52.31.

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 the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Air Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AL. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Lease from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Company Profile

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.