Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Short Interest Down 49.4% in December

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) saw a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 491,500 shares, a decline of 49.4% from the November 30th total of 971,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 746,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Price Performance

Shares of VLRS traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $7.56. 34,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 624,516. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.77. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a fifty-two week low of $5.15 and a fifty-two week high of $9.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $881.48 million, a PE ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $813.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.89 million. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 71.50%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.33) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 446,958 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 105,570 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the second quarter worth approximately $1,338,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 208,355 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,461 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 157.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 84,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 51,580 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 2nd quarter worth $408,000. 53.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on VLRS shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on 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, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.85.

About Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

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.