Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) Given New $9.00 Price Target at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays cut its price target on Controladora Vuela to $9.00 (from $10.00) while maintaining an "overweight" rating, a target that implies about a 22.87% upside from the prior close.
• The company recorded a material quarterly earnings miss, reporting EPS of ($0.62) versus estimates of ($0.04), and analysts now forecast about -1.31 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Analyst coverage is mixed — the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target of $9.04 (5 Buy, 5 Hold, 1 Sell) — and institutional investors own roughly 53.32% of the stock, with several funds recently increasing positions.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by analysts at Barclays from $10.00 to $9.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the transportation company's stock. Barclays's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.87% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $7.60 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.04.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Trading Up 3.2%

NYSE:VLRS traded up $0.23 on Thursday, reaching $7.33. 197,603 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 764,567. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion has a 1-year low of $3.54 and a 1-year high of $10.80. The company's 50 day moving average is $7.66 and its 200-day moving average is $8.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $854.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.86 and a beta of 1.92.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The transportation company reported ($0.62) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.58). Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative return on equity of 47.75% and a negative net margin of 3.96%.The firm had revenue of $770.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $776.18 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VLRS. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,053,229 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $44,873,000 after acquiring an additional 128,088 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,720,522 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $12,353,000 after acquiring an additional 565,250 shares during the last quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP lifted its position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 1,009,652 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,916,000 after purchasing an additional 37,457 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 126.5% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 990,495 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,796,000 after acquiring an additional 553,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP increased its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 757,761 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,277 shares during the last quarter. 53.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Company Profile

Controladora Vuela Compañia de Aviacion, SAB de CV NYSE: VLRS is a Mexico-based airline holding company whose primary business is the operation of low-cost scheduled air transportation services. Through its principal operating subsidiary, Volaris, the company provides passenger and cargo flights on domestic and international routes. Its business model emphasizes unbundled ancillary services and point-to-point operations designed to offer competitive fares across its network.

Volaris serves more than 120 routes linking major metropolitan areas and secondary cities in Mexico, the United States and Central America.

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