Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) Stock Price Down 6.7% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• VLRS shares fell 6.7% in mid-day trading, dropping to as low as $8.40 after closing at $9.08 the previous day, on lighter-than-average volume.
• Analysts are increasingly cautious: several firms cut price targets or downgraded the stock, and the current consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $8.87.
• The company’s latest earnings disappointed, with EPS of -$0.62 missing estimates, while insider selling and mixed financial metrics add to concerns about the airline’s outlook.

Shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) dropped 6.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $8.40 and last traded at $8.4750. 395,618 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 712,252 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $7.60 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Itau BBA Securities lowered shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $7.40 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.87.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $7.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $977.11 million, a PE ratio of -7.82 and a beta of 1.72.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The transportation company reported ($0.62) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.56). Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative return on equity of 50.26% and a negative net margin of 3.96%.The firm had revenue of $770.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.60 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. will post -2.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

In other news, Director William Dean Donovan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.54, for a total value of $377,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,946,050 shares in the company, valued at $22,213,217. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 2.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 48.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 565,250 shares during the period. Thomist Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 1,009,652 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,916,000 after purchasing an additional 37,457 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 553,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 757,761 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,277 shares during the period. 53.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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