Ellis Investment Partners LLC Sells 1,053 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 68,214 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,053 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $3,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Air Lease by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,800,723 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $134,332,000 after acquiring an additional 842,780 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,289,000. Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new position in Air Lease in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,066,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Air Lease by 109.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 161,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,297,000 after acquiring an additional 84,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Air Lease by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,875,522 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $130,232,000 after acquiring an additional 70,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Air Lease from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Lease currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.60.

Air Lease Price Performance

Air Lease stock opened at $49.46 on Friday. Air Lease Co. has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $52.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.59.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 8.92%. On average, equities analysts predict that Air Lease Co. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. 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 1.78%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is 20.05%.

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.