Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $8.02, but opened at $8.54. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación shares last traded at $9.31, with a volume of 545,389 shares traded.

The transportation company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $768.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.84 million. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación had a return on equity of 61.54% and a net margin of 3.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $12.40 to $11.10 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $16.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.02.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLRS. Par Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 3,928.4% in the fourth quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,205,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,683,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,263 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 2,264.7% in the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 959,345 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,998,000 after acquiring an additional 918,776 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $15,971,000 after buying an additional 570,449 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the third quarter valued at about $3,764,000. Finally, Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos grew its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 74.9% during the third quarter. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos now owns 1,036,657 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,039,000 after buying an additional 444,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.32% of the company’s stock.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Stock Up 2.4 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $762.02 million, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Company Profile

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, SAB. de C.V., through its subsidiary, Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, SAP.I. de C.V., provides air transportation services for passengers, cargo, and mail in Mexico and internationally. The company operates approximately 590 daily flights on routes connecting 43 cities in Mexico, 22 cities in the United States, 4 cities in Central America, and 2 cities in South America.