Short Interest in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Drops By 56.3%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 56.3% to 885,192 shares as of July 31, representing 0.8% of VLRS’s outstanding shares and 1.5 days of average trading volume.
• Shares recently traded at $7.89, below their 50-day moving average of $8.32, while the company reported a quarterly loss of $1.11 per share, slightly worse than analysts’ expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $9.42; targets range from $7.70 to $11.00.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 885,192 shares, a drop of 56.3% from the July 15th total of 2,024,544 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 577,692 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLRS traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $7.89. 840,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 580,903. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.13. The company has a market cap of $919.97 million, a PE ratio of -4.81 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.78. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion has a 12-month low of $5.70 and a 12-month high of $10.80.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported ($1.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.08) by ($0.03). Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative return on equity of 93.91% and a negative net margin of 5.71%.The firm had revenue of $859.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $854.70 million. On average, analysts forecast that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion will post -2.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion news, Director William Dean Donovan sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.54, for a total transaction of $377,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,946,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,213,217. The trade was a 1.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 238.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 6,204.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,755 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 7,632 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the 4th quarter valued at about $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $8.60 to $7.70 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. They set a "hold" rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.42.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Company Profile

Controladora Vuela Compañia de Aviacion, SAB de CV NYSE: VLRS is a Mexico-based airline holding company whose primary business is the operation of low-cost scheduled air transportation services. Through its principal operating subsidiary, Volaris, the company provides passenger and cargo flights on domestic and international routes. Its business model emphasizes unbundled ancillary services and point-to-point operations designed to offer competitive fares across its network.

Volaris serves more than 120 routes linking major metropolitan areas and secondary cities in Mexico, the United States and Central America.

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