Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Purchases Shares of 110,893 Air Lease Corporation $AL

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 110,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,058,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,591,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $419,540,000 after purchasing an additional 41,975 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Air Lease by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,459,048 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $203,084,000 after buying an additional 28,227 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Air Lease by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,235,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,250,000 after buying an additional 48,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Air Lease during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,910,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Air Lease by 104.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 648,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,938,000 after acquiring an additional 331,291 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Lease currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.00.

Air Lease Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:AL opened at $64.79 on Tuesday. Air Lease Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.25 and a 12-month high of $64.96. The company has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 6.96, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $679.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.67 million. Air Lease had a net margin of 35.72% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.45%.

Insider Activity at Air Lease

In other news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 20,662 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $1,324,434.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,210,833.10. This represents a 29.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 48,632 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $3,121,201.76. Following the sale, the director owned 14,050 shares in the company, valued at $901,729. This trade represents a 77.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 281,804 shares of company stock worth $18,047,627. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Air Lease Profile

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) is a leading aircraft leasing company that acquires commercial jet aircraft and leases them to airlines worldwide. The firm’s core business activities include direct aircraft acquisition, lease management and portfolio remarketing. By structuring sale‐and‐leaseback transactions, operating leases and secured loans, Air Lease provides flexible financing solutions that enable carriers to modernize their fleets without committing large amounts of capital to ownership.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Los Angeles, Air Lease Corporation serves a diverse customer base spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.