JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.06, but opened at $6.36. JetBlue Airways shares last traded at $6.56, with a volume of 13,968,750 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JBLU has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $5.50 target price on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of JetBlue Airways to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upgraded JetBlue Airways from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $3.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, JetBlue Airways has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.43.

JetBlue Airways Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.67 and a beta of 1.92.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 9.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.39) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of JetBlue Airways

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBLU. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 715.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,630,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,622 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in JetBlue Airways by 16.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,041,025 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,217 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 429.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,232,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,084,000 after acquiring an additional 999,713 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,311,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,661,742 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,141,000 after purchasing an additional 663,865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways Corporation provides air transportation services. The company operates a fleet of Airbus A321, Airbus A220, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320 Restyled, Airbus A320, Airbus A321 with Mint, Airbus A321neo with Mint, Airbus A321neoLR with Mint, and Embraer E190 aircraft. It also serves 100 destinations across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, Canada, and Europe.