Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Purchases New Holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,476 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AL. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Air Lease in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,414,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 104.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 43,981 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Air Lease by 9.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 830,047 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,591,000 after purchasing an additional 69,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings 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 worth $76,451,000 after purchasing an additional 42,034 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AL shares. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

Air Lease Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE AL opened at $50.02 on Thursday. Air Lease Co. has a 52 week low of $39.43 and a 52 week high of $52.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued 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 1.76%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.43%.

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.