JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Research Partners downgraded JetBlue Airways from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $6.75 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.40.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

Shares of JBLU opened at $4.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.63. JetBlue Airways has a one year low of $3.87 and a one year high of $6.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.05 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.64 and a 200 day moving average of $5.25.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.03. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 45.92% and a negative net margin of 9.32%.The company had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.21) earnings per share. JetBlue Airways’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that JetBlue Airways will post -2.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other JetBlue Airways news, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 77,253 shares of JetBlue Airways stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.76, for a total transaction of $444,977.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 211,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,215,930.24. The trade was a 26.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vivek Sharma sold 32,000 shares of JetBlue Airways stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.41, for a total transaction of $173,120.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 35,479 shares in the company, valued at $191,941.39. This represents a 47.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,253 shares of company stock worth $629,597. 2.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 509.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 649,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 543,017 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways during the second quarter worth about $6,890,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in JetBlue Airways during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,725,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in JetBlue Airways by 235.9% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,246,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,500 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in JetBlue Airways in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,333,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

JetBlue Airways Company Profile

JetBlue Airways Corporation is a low-cost scheduled passenger airline headquartered in Long Island City, New York. Since commencing service in 2000, the carrier has built a reputation for combining competitive fares with enhanced onboard amenities, including free in-flight entertainment, complimentary snacks and beverages, and onboard Wi-Fi. JetBlue operates a single fleet type of Airbus A320 family and Embraer 190 aircraft, which supports its focus on efficiency and operational consistency.

The airline’s core offerings include economy-class travel and a premium business-class product known as Mint, which features lie-flat seats, curated culinary options and elevated service on select transcontinental and international routes.