Air Lease (AL) Competitors

Aercap (NYSE:AER) and Air Lease (NYSE:AL) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, media sentiment, earnings and valuation.

Do analysts prefer AER or AL?

Aercap presently has a consensus target price of $119.25, indicating a potential upside of 2.47%. Air Lease has a consensus target price of $57.43, indicating a potential downside of 2.61%. Given Aercap's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Aercap is more favorable than Air Lease.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aercap	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Air Lease	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Does the media refer more to AER or AL?

In the previous week, Aercap had 8 more articles in the media than Air Lease. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Aercap and 8 mentions for Air Lease. Aercap's average media sentiment score of 0.86 beat Air Lease's score of 0.75 indicating that Aercap is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Aercap	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Air Lease	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AER or AL?

96.4% of Aercap shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.6% of Air Lease shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Aercap shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Air Lease shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, AER or AL?

Aercap has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Lease has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings & valuation, AER or AL?

Aercap has higher revenue and earnings than Air Lease. Air Lease is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aercap, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aercap	$8.00B	2.72	$2.10B	$11.27	10.33
Air Lease	$2.81B	2.35	$427.70M	$5.72	10.31

Is AER or AL more profitable?

Aercap has a net margin of 26.53% compared to Air Lease's net margin of 24.77%. Aercap's return on equity of 13.84% beat Air Lease's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aercap	26.53%	13.84%	3.26%
Air Lease	24.77%	8.04%	1.91%

Is AER or AL a better dividend stock?

Aercap pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Air Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Aercap pays out 9.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Air Lease pays out 15.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Aercap has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Air Lease has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Air Lease is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Aercap beats Air Lease on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.