Short Interest in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Rises By 100.4%

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 459,600 shares, an increase of 100.4% from the January 31st total of 229,300 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 581,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of VLRS traded up $0.14 on Friday, hitting $6.49. 597,827 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 597,096. The company has a market capitalization of $756.72 million, a PE ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 2.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.31. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a one year low of $5.15 and a one year high of $9.57.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $835.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.48 million. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 71.50%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,479,591 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,423,000 after purchasing an additional 291,252 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter valued at $14,786,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter valued at $4,550,000. Renaissance Group LLC increased its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 315,278 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after acquiring an additional 79,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the 4th quarter valued at $2,106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLRS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Itau BBA Securities began coverage on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

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.