Azul (NYSE:AZUL) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $2.69, but opened at $2.82. Azul shares last traded at $2.85, with a volume of 384,621 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Azul from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised Azul to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on Azul from $10.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Azul from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $6.70 to $4.00 in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Azul from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.59.

Azul Stock Up 4.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of -0.28 and a beta of 1.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.13.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.63). The firm had revenue of $800.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $791.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.81) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Azul S.A. will post -1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azul

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZUL. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Azul by 310.0% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 31,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 24,054 shares in the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. increased its stake in Azul by 9.5% during the second quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 27,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Azul by 35.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Azul by 20.1% during the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 22,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 3,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Azul by 2,466.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 598,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,395,000 after acquiring an additional 575,344 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Azul Company Profile

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in Brazil and internationally. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 160 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 183 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 189 aircraft.