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

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 6,075 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 125% compared to the typical volume of 2,695 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AZUL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Azul from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Azul from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Azul from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.70 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Azul from $10.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Azul from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $6.70 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.59.

Azul Stock Performance

Shares of Azul stock opened at $3.13 on Tuesday. Azul has a 52-week low of $2.02 and a 52-week high of $11.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 1.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $3.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.55.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.63). The firm had revenue of $800.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $791.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.81) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Azul will post -1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Azul

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of Azul in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Azul by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 2,812 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Azul in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in Azul by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 22,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 3,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its position in Azul by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 27,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.