Azul Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AZUL)

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 7,813 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 743% compared to the typical volume of 927 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZUL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Azul in a research note on Friday, May 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $7.40 price target for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $12.00 price target (down from $13.00) on shares of Azul in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $9.50 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Azul in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Azul from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azul

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Azul by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 18,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Azul by 310.0% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 31,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 24,054 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its holdings in Azul by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 24,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Azul by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 874,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,797,000 after purchasing an additional 82,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Azul during the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Azul Trading Up 7.8 %

NYSE:AZUL opened at $4.14 on Thursday. Azul has a 1-year low of $3.70 and a 1-year high of $13.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of -1.70 and a beta of 2.01.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $945.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $968.17 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Azul will post -0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Azul

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in Brazil and internationally. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 160 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 183 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 189 aircraft.