Short Interest in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Increases By 99.2%

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 915,300 shares, an increase of 99.2% from the February 13th total of 459,600 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 606,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLRS. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,786,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,550,000. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,479,591 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,423,000 after buying an additional 291,252 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,106,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 236.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 227,601 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 159,900 shares during the period. 53.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Price Performance

VLRS stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.55. The stock had a trading volume of 818,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,263. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.31. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a twelve month low of $5.15 and a twelve month high of $9.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $646.54 million, a P/E ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 2.48.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.16). Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación had a return on equity of 71.50% and a net margin of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $835.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.48 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLRS has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Itau BBA Securities initiated coverage on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.88.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Company Profile

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.