Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $7.14, but opened at $6.92. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion shares last traded at $6.93, with a volume of 20,977 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLRS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their price target on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities lowered Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $7.40 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.42.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $805.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 1.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.30 and its 200-day moving average is $8.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.78.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported ($1.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $859.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $854.70 million. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative return on equity of 93.91% and a negative net margin of 5.71%. On average, analysts forecast that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. will post -2.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

In related news, Director William Dean Donovan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.54, for a total value of $377,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,946,050 shares in the company, valued at $22,213,217. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 238.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 6,204.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 7,632 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,000. 53.32% of the stock is 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.