Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Short Interest Up 28.0% in March

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a growth of 28.0% from the March 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 815,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 9.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,092 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the fourth quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter valued at $79,000. Institutional investors own 53.32% of the company’s stock.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLRS traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.47. The stock had a trading volume of 454,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,576. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 2.17. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $9.57.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS) last released its quarterly 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 for 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VLRS shares. UBS Group upped 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 research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.88.

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.