Short Interest in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Rises By 100.4%

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 459,600 shares, an increase of 100.4% from the January 31st total of 229,300 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 581,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Itau BBA Securities began 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 objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.14.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Trading Up 2.2 %

VLRS stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $6.49. The company had a trading volume of 597,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,096. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $756.72 million, a PE ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 2.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $7.94 and a 200 day moving average of $7.31. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a 12 month low of $5.15 and a 12 month high of $9.57.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS) last issued 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 company had revenue of $835.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.48 million. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación had a return on equity of 71.50% and a net margin of 5.99%. On average, equities analysts predict that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,396 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the third quarter valued at approximately $92,000. 53.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.