Azul (NYSE:AZUL) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Raymond James lowered their price target on the stock from $6.00 to $5.00. The stock had previously closed at $2.24, but opened at $2.16. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Azul shares last traded at $2.12, with a volume of 170,117 shares trading hands.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Azul from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Azul from $3.10 to $2.70 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Azul has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.40.

Institutional Trading of Azul

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Trellis Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Azul in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Azul by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 63,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 8,899 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Azul by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,473,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,132,000 after buying an additional 119,023 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Azul in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $614,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Azul by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 203,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 75,291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Azul Trading Down 6.5 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $883.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.30 and a beta of 1.99.

About Azul

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in Brazil and internationally. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 160 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 183 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 189 aircraft.