Citigroup Downgrades Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) to Neutral

Key Points

• Citigroup downgraded Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "buy" to a "neutral" rating, setting a target price of $7.00, which implies an 18.52% potential upside.
• Other recent analyst actions include a downgrade by Morgan Stanley and upgrades from Barclays and Wall Street Zen, resulting in a current average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $7.44.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of ($0.54) per share, beating expectations, with revenue hitting $693 million, surpassing the consensus estimate of $664 million.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $7.00 price target on the transportation company's stock. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.38% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $4.40 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Itau BBA Securities lowered Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.44.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE VLRS traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $6.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 249,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,825. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $701.35 million, a PE ratio of -22.28 and a beta of 2.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $5.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.23. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion has a fifty-two week low of $3.49 and a fifty-two week high of $9.00.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The transportation company reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by $0.21. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative return on equity of 9.89% and a negative net margin of 1.03%.The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $664.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VLRS. Shay Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 2nd quarter valued at about $214,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,611,000. Diametric Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,067,000. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 2nd quarter valued at $704,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 281,473 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,626 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.32% of the company's stock.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Company Profile

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, SAB. de C.V., through its subsidiary, Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, SAP.I. de C.V., provides air transportation services for passengers, cargo, and mail in Mexico and internationally. The company operates approximately 590 daily flights on routes connecting 43 cities in Mexico, 22 cities in the United States, 4 cities in Central America, and 2 cities in South America.