Willis Lease Finance Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:WLFC)

Willis Lease Finance Co. (NASDAQ:WLFC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the transportation company on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th.

Willis Lease Finance has a dividend payout ratio of 5.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Willis Lease Finance Stock Down 3.9 %

WLFC traded down $7.47 on Monday, reaching $185.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,729. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $206.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.48. Willis Lease Finance has a fifty-two week low of $46.70 and a fifty-two week high of $235.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.11.

Willis Lease Finance (NASDAQ:WLFC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The transportation company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Willis Lease Finance had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $146.22 million for the quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott B. Flaherty sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.19, for a total value of $1,000,950.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,955 shares in the company, valued at $15,005,241.45. This represents a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Brian Richard Hole sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.31, for a total value of $4,066,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 81,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,501,452.84. The trade was a 19.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,500 shares of company stock worth $5,164,310. Company insiders own 57.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Willis Lease Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

About Willis Lease Finance

Willis Lease Finance Corporation operates as a lessor and servicer of commercial aircraft and aircraft engines worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Leasing and Related Operations, and Spare Parts Sales. The Leasing and Related Operations segment engages in acquiring and leasing commercial aircraft, aircraft engines, and other aircraft equipment, as well as the purchase and resale of commercial aircraft engines and other aircraft equipment, and other related businesses.