United Airlines (UAL) Picks Michael Leskinen as the New CFO

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United Airlines UAL announced that Michael Leskinen has been promoted to chief financial officer and executive vice president.

His new duties require him to oversee corporate finance, treasury, financial planning and analysis, tax, accounting, investor relations, procurement, internal audit, risk management and corporate strategy. Leskinen will also join the airline's Executive Team.

United Airline’s CEO Scott Kirby stated, “With two decades of experience on Wall Street and five years as a leading finance executive at United, Mike brings a unique understanding of the public markets combined with an in depth understanding of our airline and our industry.”

Earlier this year, UAL announced that prior CFO Gerry Laderman would remain in the role until his successor was appointed and then serve as EVP, Finance until his planned retirement in Sep 2024.

Leskinen joined United Airlines in 2018 as the managing director of Investor Relations and was promoted to vice president of Corporate Development and Investor Relations in 2019. In 2020, Leskinen led the multi-divisional team that successfully raised $6.8 billion of financing secured by the airline's MileagePlus loyalty program, an industry first giving United Airlines critical financial flexibility to manage through the pandemic.

Prior to UAL, Leskinen was an executive director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management from 2013-2017, where he led the firm's investment efforts in aerospace, defense and airlines.

Zacks Rank

UAL currently carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks for investors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector are GATX Corporation GATX and Triton International Limited TRTN.

GATX, which presently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has strengthened its railcar leasing operations. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

For third-quarter and full-year 2023, GATX’s earnings are expected to register 36.6% and 14.3% growth, respectively, on a year-over-year basis.

Triton, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2, is benefiting from its consistent efforts to reward shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Triton has an impressive liquidity position. Its current ratio (a measure of liquidity) was 3.83 at the end of second-quarter 2023. A current ratio of more than 1 often indicates that the company will be easily paying off its short-term obligations.

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