JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Shares Up 5.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) shares were up 5.3% on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $6.85 to $7.60. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. JetBlue Airways traded as high as $7.38 and last traded at $7.37. Approximately 7,869,340 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 16,015,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on JBLU. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, JetBlue Airways has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.55.

Institutional Trading of JetBlue Airways

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JBLU. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in JetBlue Airways by 3.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,878,115 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,875,000 after purchasing an additional 521,767 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 16.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,041,025 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,217 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $37,141,000 after purchasing an additional 663,865 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in JetBlue Airways by 715.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,630,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,930,000 after buying an additional 1,430,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in JetBlue Airways by 5.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,289,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,457,000 after buying an additional 65,660 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.92 and a beta of 1.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.03.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.10. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 9.17% and a negative return on equity of 8.35%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.39) EPS. JetBlue Airways’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.89 EPS for the current year.

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.