Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs downgrade — the firm cut VLRS from Buy to Neutral and set a $7.60 price target, prompting shares to gap down from $7.72 to an open of $7.38 (last traded ~$7.41).
• Analyst consensus "Hold" — five analysts rate the stock Buy, six Hold and one Sell, with an average target price of $8.63.
• Institutional activity and weak fundamentals — major funds like Arrowstreet and Millennium materially increased stakes (institutions own 53.32%); VLRS has a $866M market cap, a negative P/E (-8.36) and a current ratio below 1 (0.73).

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. The stock had previously closed at $7.72, but opened at $7.38. The Goldman Sachs Group now has a $7.60 price target on the stock. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion shares last traded at $7.4070, with a volume of 149,338 shares changing hands.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on VLRS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research lowered Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $9.50 to $11.20 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 48.9% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,720,522 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $12,353,000 after buying an additional 565,250 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 126.5% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 990,495 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,796,000 after buying an additional 553,251 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the second quarter worth approximately $1,611,000. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 100.6% during the fourth quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 527,323 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,683,000 after buying an additional 264,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC acquired a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,129,000. 53.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Trading Down 3.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $866.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.36 and a beta of 1.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative return on equity of 38.03% and a negative net margin of 3.42%.The company had revenue of $882.00 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

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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