JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Shares Gap Up to $6.53

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.53, but opened at $6.68. JetBlue Airways shares last traded at $6.89, with a volume of 1,257,203 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBLU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of JetBlue Airways in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $4.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America cut shares of JetBlue Airways from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $6.00 to $3.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.86.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $6.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.59.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.10. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 3.23% and a negative return on equity of 4.41%. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of JetBlue Airways

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in JetBlue Airways in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC bought a new position in JetBlue Airways in the 1st quarter worth about $260,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in JetBlue Airways by 169.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in JetBlue Airways by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 30,224 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in JetBlue Airways by 62.7% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 10,363 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 3,992 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About JetBlue Airways

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.