JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.15 EPS

Key Points

• JetBlue Airways reported quarterly earnings of ($0.16) per share, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.21.
• The company's stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion and has recently experienced fluctuating ratings from analysts, with several firms downgrading their ratings.
• Institutional investors hold 83.71% of JetBlue's shares, indicating strong institutional interest despite its recent challenges.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The transportation company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.15, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 15.59% and a negative net margin of 4.22%.

JetBlue Airways Price Performance

Shares of JBLU traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.27. 20,427,437 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,433,752. JetBlue Airways has a 1-year low of $3.34 and a 1-year high of $8.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.55 and a 200-day moving average of $5.19. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.88 and a beta of 1.76.

Institutional Trading of JetBlue Airways

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 185,801 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 8,053 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways in the 1st quarter worth approximately $106,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 131.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 90,534 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 51,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,789,448 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $23,085,000 after acquiring an additional 274,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBLU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup set a $5.00 price target on JetBlue Airways and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial cut JetBlue Airways from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised JetBlue Airways to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group set a $3.00 price objective on JetBlue Airways and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, JetBlue Airways presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $5.16.

About JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways Corporation provides air transportation services. The company operates a fleet of Airbus A321, Airbus A220, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320 Restyled, Airbus A320, Airbus A321 with Mint, Airbus A321neo with Mint, Airbus A321neoLR with Mint, and Embraer E190 aircraft. It also serves 100 destinations across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, Canada, and Europe.