Bank of Montreal Can Grows Position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,940 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 6,956 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $3,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AL. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Air Lease in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Air Lease in the third quarter worth about $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Air Lease by 5,245.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Air Lease by 1,506.8% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Trading Down 0.3 %

AL opened at $42.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.23 and a 200 day moving average of $46.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Air Lease Co. has a 12 month low of $38.25 and a 12 month high of $52.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.34.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.26 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Bank of America downgraded 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 report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Air Lease in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

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.