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

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in 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. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 646,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on VLRS shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of 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. 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities initiated coverage on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE VLRS 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $625.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 2.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $7.08 and its 200-day moving average is $7.30. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a 52-week low of $5.15 and a 52-week high of $9.57.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The transportation company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $835.00 million for 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%. Analysts expect that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,396 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the 4th quarter worth $68,000. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the fourth quarter valued at $79,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, MMA Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.32% of the company’s stock.

About Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

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.