Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday. Approximately 2,042,936 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 215% from the average daily volume of 647,905 shares. The stock last traded at $6.0760 and had previously closed at $6.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $8.60 to $7.70 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.40.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Stock Up 3.2%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.73. The company has a market cap of $746.23 million, a PE ratio of -3.33 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.31, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The transportation company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.17). Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative net margin of 6.20% and a negative return on equity of 151.52%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.07 million. Research analysts anticipate that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. will post -2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 32,386 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the second quarter worth approximately $653,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the 2nd quarter valued at $187,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in the first quarter worth $1,103,000. 53.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Company Profile

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, SAB. de C.V., operating under the Volaris brand, is a Mexican ultra-low-cost airline. The company provides scheduled passenger air transportation, along with ancillary services such as baggage, seat selection and other travel-related offerings.

Volaris began operations in 2006 and serves a broad network of destinations in Mexico, the United States, and Central America. Its business model emphasizes affordable base fares, high aircraft utilization and the separate sale of optional services.

Controladora Vuela is headquartered in Mexico City and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VLRS.