Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU)

Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 842,400 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $6,621,000. JetBlue Airways comprises 1.4% of Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC owned about 0.24% of JetBlue Airways at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 14,595.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,599,279 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $130,470,000 after acquiring an additional 16,486,326 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 491.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,274,457 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $33,597,000 after acquiring an additional 3,552,057 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in JetBlue Airways during the 4th quarter worth about $14,624,000. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 200.6% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 2,223,354 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $17,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 5,648.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,470,062 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $11,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,491 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 15,000 shares of JetBlue Airways stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total value of $112,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $313,747.50. This trade represents a 26.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of JetBlue Airways from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $3.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $7.00 to $4.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of JetBlue Airways to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $5.16.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

JBLU traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.07. 18,753,344 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,859,543. JetBlue Airways Co. 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 3.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.17 and a beta of 1.79. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $4.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.05.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.61) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 8.57% and a negative return on equity of 9.31%. JetBlue Airways's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.43) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

JetBlue Airways Company Profile

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.