Norges Bank Invests $49.42 Million in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,025,002 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,415,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.92% of Air Lease at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AL. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 498,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,049,000 after purchasing an additional 95,006 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its position in Air Lease by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 23,837 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after buying an additional 1,926 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the fourth quarter worth $264,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Air Lease during the fourth quarter worth $435,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 40,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after acquiring an additional 13,416 shares during the last quarter. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Air Lease Price Performance

Shares of AL opened at $42.00 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.93 and a 200-day moving average of $46.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.60. Air Lease Co. has a 1 year low of $39.43 and a 1 year high of $52.31.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last released 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 15.65% and a return on equity of 8.01%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 2.10%. Air Lease’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America downgraded Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.67.

About Air Lease

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.