Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU)

Key Points

• Traders bought an unusually large volume of call options on JetBlue — 34,124 calls were purchased on Friday, a 43% increase versus the stock's typical daily call volume.
• Several institutional investors materially increased stakes (notably Par Capital added ~2.8 million shares), leaving institutions with roughly 83.71% ownership of JBLU.
• Despite short-term call buying and recent institutional buying, analysts hold a negative view: consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average price target of $5.27, and the company recently missed EPS estimates (‑$0.49 vs. ‑$0.45) while showing negative profitability metrics.

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 34,124 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 43% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,856 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JBLU. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,745,777 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $32,770,000 after buying an additional 128,622 shares during the last quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 105.3% during the 2nd quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,487,425 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $23,212,000 after buying an additional 2,814,870 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its stake in JetBlue Airways by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 5,021,419 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $21,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011,279 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 6.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,789,448 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $23,085,000 after purchasing an additional 274,892 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in JetBlue Airways by 10.1% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,513,312 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $19,091,000 after purchasing an additional 412,921 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on JBLU shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, JetBlue Airways presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $5.27.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

Shares of JBLU stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.35. The company had a trading volume of 11,381,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,170,227. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $4.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.79. JetBlue Airways has a one year low of $3.34 and a one year high of $7.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of -3.81 and a beta of 1.78.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The transportation company reported ($0.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.45) by ($0.04). JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 24.93% and a negative net margin of 6.64%.The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.21) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

JetBlue Airways Company Profile

JetBlue Airways Corporation is a low-cost scheduled passenger airline headquartered in Long Island City, New York. Since commencing service in 2000, the carrier has built a reputation for combining competitive fares with enhanced onboard amenities, including free in-flight entertainment, complimentary snacks and beverages, and onboard Wi-Fi. JetBlue operates a single fleet type of Airbus A320 family and Embraer 190 aircraft, which supports its focus on efficiency and operational consistency.

The airline's core offerings include economy-class travel and a premium business-class product known as Mint, which features lie-flat seats, curated culinary options and elevated service on select transcontinental and international routes.

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