JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Trading Up 5.3% on Analyst Upgrade

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) shares shot up 5.3% during mid-day trading 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. 7,869,340 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 16,015,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on JBLU. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of JetBlue Airways in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised JetBlue Airways to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, JetBlue Airways has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.55.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 9.0% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,628 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 4,355 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in JetBlue Airways in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 171,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $130,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 60.5% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 37,193 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 14,021 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

JetBlue Airways Stock Up 2.1 %

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 business has a 50 day moving average of $6.62 and a 200 day moving average of $6.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 1.92.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.39) EPS. The business’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.89 EPS for the current year.

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.