Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) Stock Price Up 11.7% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Shares rose 11.7% on Wednesday, trading as high as $7.84 and last at $7.6610, but volume was light at ~198,499 shares (down about 76% from the average).
• The analyst consensus is a "Hold" with an average price target of $8.74; six analysts rate VLRS a Buy, five a Hold and one a Sell, while Bank of America recently raised its target to $11.20 and JPMorgan and Barclays trimmed theirs.
• Fundamentals show strain: market cap ~$914M, negative net margin (-3.42%) and negative ROE (-38.03%), PE of -8.81, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 11.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $7.84 and last traded at $7.6610. Approximately 198,499 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 813,078 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $9.50 to $11.20 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.74.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Trading Up 14.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $8.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $914.13 million, a PE ratio of -8.81 and a beta of 1.92.

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

Institutional Trading of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VLRS. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position 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 worth $12,353,000 after buying an additional 565,250 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 126.5% in the 4th 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 period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,611,000. Walleye Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 100.6% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 4th quarter worth about $2,129,000. 53.32% of the stock is 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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