Long Focus Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL)

Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its position in Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL) by 106.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,454,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,295,000 shares during the period. Azul accounts for 0.7% of Long Focus Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Long Focus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.06% of Azul worth $17,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Azul by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,042 shares in the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its holdings in Azul by 16.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 24,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Azul by 2,466.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 598,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,395,000 after acquiring an additional 575,344 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Azul from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Azul to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. HSBC cut shares of Azul from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.70 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Azul from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Azul from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $6.70 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Azul has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.59.

Azul Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZUL opened at $3.05 on Friday. Azul S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.02 and a 52-week high of $11.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.25 and a beta of 1.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.15.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.63). The firm had revenue of $800.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $791.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.81) EPS. Analysts forecast that Azul S.A. will post -1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Azul Company Profile

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.