Dahlman Rose Reiterates Buy Rating on Aircastle Limited (AYR)

Dahlman Rose is out with a research report this afternoon, where it reiterates its Buy rating on Aircastle Limited AYR; it has a price target of $13.00 on the stock, up from $12.00. The DR analysts cited the company's recent announcement that the sale of four B737-400 converted freighters closed in January 2011, and not in 4Q10 as previously expected. The analysts have updated their 4Q10 EPS estimate to reflect this change and believe the company is still well positioned to outperform in the coming years. As for valuation, the analysts remarked, “AYR shares are at our $12 price target, but given the company's NAV of $12.60 and dividend yield of 3.3%, we are raising our price target to $13 per share. On a P/E and EV/EBITDA basis the price target is derived by applying 12x our 2011 EPS of $1.10 and 5.5x EV/EBITDA, both within the company's historical range.”