JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $8.31 and last traded at $7.96, with a volume of 26625429 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on JBLU. Citigroup raised their target price on JetBlue Airways from $6.85 to $7.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $5.50 price target on shares of JetBlue Airways in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.69.

JetBlue Airways Trading Up 4.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.16 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $7.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.36.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.10. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 9.17%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.39) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 136.1% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 245,657 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after buying an additional 141,605 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in JetBlue Airways by 56.7% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 922,925 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,054,000 after acquiring an additional 334,032 shares during the last quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in JetBlue Airways by 800.0% in the third quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,952,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $37,141,000 after purchasing an additional 663,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 3rd quarter worth $794,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

JetBlue Airways Company Profile

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.