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

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

VLRS has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on 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. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 price target (up from $9.50) on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.02.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Stock Up 0.8%

VLRS stock opened at $8.93 on Tuesday. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion has a 12 month low of $3.49 and a 12 month high of $10.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.68.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $882.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $845.68 million. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative return on equity of 38.03% and a negative net margin of 3.42%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLRS. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,053,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,873,000 after purchasing an additional 128,088 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 126.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 4th quarter worth $137,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 53.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.