102,326 Shares in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. $VLRS Acquired by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has acquired 102,326 shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, valued at approximately $534,000, representing a 0.09% ownership stake.
• Institutional investors collectively own 53.32% of Controladora Vuela, with significant recent investments from Wellington Management Group and Banco BTG Pactual.
• The stock is priced at $6.18 and analysts predict a consensus EPS of 1.21 for the current fiscal year, with a consensus target price of $7.44.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 102,326 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $534,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. owned about 0.09% of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,396 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 11.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 69,150 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 7,088 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 4.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 273,847 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 10,706 shares during the last quarter. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos boosted its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 5.3% during the first quarter. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos now owns 294,457 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,537,000 after acquiring an additional 14,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the first quarter valued at $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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. Citigroup downgraded Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $7.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $13.00 to $7.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $4.50 to $5.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $7.44.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE VLRS traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.13. 278,480 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 973,024. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. has a 1-year low of $3.49 and a 1-year high of $9.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $714.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.68 and a beta of 2.00.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The transportation company reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $664.01 million. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative return on equity of 9.89% and a negative net margin of 1.03%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

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.