JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,917,885 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the February 28th total of 11,621,965 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,228,609 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.
In other news, EVP James G. Hnat sold 9,127 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $186,282.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,932 shares in the company, valued at $549,682.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robin Hayes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.18, for a total transaction of $40,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,791,861.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,247 shares of company stock worth $372,820. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 46.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,556,392 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $78,551,000 after buying an additional 1,444,045 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the third quarter valued at approximately $20,707,000. First Republic Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 34.8% in the third quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 672,220 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,590,000 after buying an additional 173,565 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,346,000. 80.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The business earned $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. JetBlue Airways had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 11.31%. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways will post $1.79 EPS for the current year.
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on JBLU shares. Vetr upgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $24.99 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $21.42 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Imperial Capital restated an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.17.
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About JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways Corporation is a passenger carrier company. The Company provides air transportation services across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. Its segments include Domestic, and Caribbean & Latin America. It operates various kinds of aircrafts, including Airbus A321, Airbus A320 and Embraer E190.
