Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Air Canada (TSE:AC) Stock Price

Key Points

• Jefferies cut its target price for Air Canada from C$22 to C$17, reflecting a more cautious near-term view and implying roughly a 0.58% downside from the prior close.
• Most analysts remain more bullish overall: seven Buy, four Hold and one Sell rating produce a consensus target of C$24.83 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Stock traded at C$17.10 on the day with above-average volume, and the company shows very high leverage (debt-to-equity ~446.78) alongside a low PE of 9.19, underscoring valuation and balance-sheet risks.

Air Canada (TSE:AC - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from C$22.00 to C$17.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. Jefferies Financial Group's price target would indicate a potential downside of 0.58% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on AC. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$25.00 target price on Air Canada and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Air Canada from C$24.00 to C$28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on shares of Air Canada from C$23.00 to C$24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. National Bank Financial boosted their price target on Air Canada from C$24.00 to C$25.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Air Canada from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from C$27.00 to C$21.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$24.83.

Air Canada Stock Performance

Shares of Air Canada stock traded down C$0.51 on Thursday, reaching C$17.10. 3,043,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,928,853. Air Canada has a 1-year low of C$12.69 and a 1-year high of C$23.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 446.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of C$19.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$19.03. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.19, a PEG ratio of 0.02 and a beta of 1.56.

Air Canada Company Profile

Air Canada is Canada's largest airline, generally serving nearly 50 million passengers each year together with its regional partners. Air Canada is a sixth freedom airline, similar to Gulf carriers, which flies many U.S. nationals on long-haul trips with a layover in Canada. In 2019, the company generated CAD 19 billion in total revenue.

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