Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays raised their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $9.50 to $11.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 target price (up from $9.50) on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.02.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Stock Down 6.3%

Shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion stock opened at $8.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.67. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion has a 1-year low of $3.49 and a 1-year high of $10.80.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The transportation company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.21). Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative net margin of 3.42% and a negative return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $882.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $845.68 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,053,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $44,873,000 after purchasing an additional 128,088 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 126.5% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 990,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,796,000 after buying an additional 553,251 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the 4th quarter worth about $137,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 85.8% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 67,630 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 31,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.32% of the company’s stock.

About Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

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.