Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) EVP Scott Flaherty Sells 2,979 Shares

Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) EVP Scott Flaherty sold 2,979 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $167,360.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 241,345 shares in the company, valued at $13,558,762.10. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Willis Lease Finance Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WLFC opened at $54.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.22. Willis Lease Finance Corporation has a one year low of $38.00 and a one year high of $81.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.41. Willis Lease Finance had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 11.80%.The company had revenue of $192.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.00 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Willis Lease Finance Corporation will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Lease Finance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.133 per share. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Willis Lease Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $80.00 target price on shares of Willis Lease Finance and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Freedom Capital upgraded Willis Lease Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on Willis Lease Finance in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised Willis Lease Finance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Willis Lease Finance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.50.

Institutional Trading of Willis Lease Finance

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new position in shares of Willis Lease Finance in the second quarter worth $16,648,176,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the second quarter valued at about $68,932,000. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Lease Finance during the second quarter valued at about $24,747,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Willis Lease Finance in the second quarter worth about $10,423,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Willis Lease Finance in the second quarter worth about $8,495,000. Institutional investors own 93.70% of the company’s stock.

About Willis Lease Finance

Willis Lease Finance Corporation is an aviation services company that provides commercial aircraft engines, auxiliary power units and related equipment to airlines, aircraft operators and other aviation customers. The company’s leasing activities include short-term and long-term operating leases, as well as engine and equipment financing solutions designed to support fleet operations and maintenance planning.

In addition to leasing, Willis Lease Finance offers engine management, maintenance and asset management services.