Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Makes New Investment in JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 35,002 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in JetBlue Airways by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 58,330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 2,178 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in JetBlue Airways by 169.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,470 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 3,368 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup reduced their target price on JetBlue Airways from $6.90 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on JetBlue Airways from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.75.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JBLU traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5.90. 5,025,091 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,708,072. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.39 and a beta of 1.91. JetBlue Airways Co. has a 52-week low of $3.42 and a 52-week high of $9.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.77 and a 200-day moving average of $6.06.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 8.79% and a negative return on equity of 5.72%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.34) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JetBlue Airways Company Profile

JetBlue Airways Corporation provides air transportation services. The company operates a fleet of Airbus A321, Airbus A220, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320 Restyled, Airbus A320, Airbus A321 with Mint, Airbus A321neo with Mint, Airbus A321neoLR with Mint, and Embraer E190 aircraft. It also serves 100 destinations across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, Canada, and Europe.