Short Interest in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Grows By 75.9%

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, an increase of 75.9% from the February 28th total of 915,300 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 646,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,092 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 157.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 84,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 51,580 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the third quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 146.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 184,952 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 109,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,000. 53.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLRS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup dropped 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. Itau BBA Securities assumed coverage on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Stock Performance

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.37. 1,641,430 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 689,604. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a one year low of $5.15 and a one year high of $9.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $625.55 million, a PE ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 2.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.30. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.16). Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 71.50%. The firm had revenue of $835.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.48 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

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.