Short Interest in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Increases By 100.4%

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 459,600 shares, an increase of 100.4% from the January 31st total of 229,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 581,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the 4th quarter worth $4,550,000. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter valued at about $549,000. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter valued at about $623,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 127,394 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 43,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the fourth quarter worth about $161,000. 53.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VLRS. Itau BBA Securities began coverage on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of VLRS traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.49. The company had a trading volume of 597,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,096. The company has a market capitalization of $756.72 million, a PE ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 2.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a one year low of $5.15 and a one year high of $9.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.29.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $835.00 million during 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

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.