Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. $VLRS

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. significantly reduced its stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 58.0%, ending the quarter with 118,848 shares valued at approximately $620,000.
• In recent analyst ratings, Wall Street Zen upgraded the company from a "sell" to a "hold," while Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating and set a new target price of $4.40.
• Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion reported a quarterly earnings loss of ($0.54) EPS, which beat consensus estimates, alongside a revenue of $693 million, surpassing expectations of $664 million.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS - Free Report) by 58.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 118,848 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 164,260 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,396 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the 1st quarter worth $105,000. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the first quarter valued at $112,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the fourth quarter valued at about $153,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the fourth quarter valued at about $161,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.32% of the company's stock.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Stock Performance

Shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion stock traded down $0.0540 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $5.9060. The company had a trading volume of 273,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 995,900. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.30. The stock has a market cap of $688.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.87 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. has a 12-month low of $3.49 and a 12-month high of $9.00.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 1.03% and a negative return on equity of 9.89%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $664.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on VLRS shares. Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $4.50 to $5.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $9.60 to $8.60 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.94.

About Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

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.