William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys 194,189 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL - Free Report) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 799,478 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 194,189 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.72% of Air Lease worth $38,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,410,373 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $155,180,000 after acquiring an additional 25,874 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Air Lease by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $134,332,000 after purchasing an additional 842,780 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its stake in Air Lease by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,585,790 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $76,451,000 after buying an additional 42,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,141,594 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $55,036,000 after buying an additional 26,373 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Air Lease Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AL traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,005,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 699,449. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, 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 12 month low of $39.43 and a 12 month high of $52.31.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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, analysts anticipate that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Air Lease's payout ratio is presently 26.43%.

Air Lease 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.