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

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 799,478 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 194,189 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.72% of Air Lease worth $38,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 92,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,472,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 208,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 23,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 4,322 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 22,379 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Lease by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 64,683 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,118,000 after acquiring an additional 3,992 shares during the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America cut shares of Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.67.

Air Lease Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AL opened at $46.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Air Lease Co. has a 1 year low of $39.43 and a 1 year high of $52.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $46.67 and its 200 day moving average is $46.62.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.44. Air Lease had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.