Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, a growth of 75.9% from the February 28th total of 915,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 646,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLRS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Itau BBA Securities assumed coverage on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.88.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Price Performance

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,641,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 689,604. The company has a market capitalization of $625.55 million, a P/E ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 2.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.30. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a 12-month low of $5.15 and a 12-month high of $9.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $835.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 anticipate that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the fourth quarter valued at about $14,786,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,550,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,479,591 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,423,000 after purchasing an additional 291,252 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,106,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 236.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 227,601 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 159,900 shares during the period. 53.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.