JetBlue Airways Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:JBLU)

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 34,124 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the typical volume of 23,856 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore lifted their target price on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $5.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JBLU. Par Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in JetBlue Airways by 105.3% in the second quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,487,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,212,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814,870 shares during the period. Prentice Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 210.4% in the 3rd quarter. Prentice Capital Management LP now owns 2,276,428 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,200,000 after buying an additional 1,542,959 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 5,021,419 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $21,241,000 after buying an additional 1,011,279 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 154.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,660,015 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,022,000 after buying an additional 1,006,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in JetBlue Airways during the third quarter worth $4,920,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

JetBlue Airways Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of JBLU stock opened at $6.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.81 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.81. JetBlue Airways has a twelve month low of $3.34 and a twelve month high of $7.83.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The transportation company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by ($0.04). JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 24.93% and a negative net margin of 6.64%.The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.21) earnings per share. JetBlue Airways’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways will post -0.69 EPS for the current year.

About JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways Corporation is a low-cost scheduled passenger airline headquartered in Long Island City, New York. Since commencing service in 2000, the carrier has built a reputation for combining competitive fares with enhanced onboard amenities, including free in-flight entertainment, complimentary snacks and beverages, and onboard Wi-Fi. JetBlue operates a single fleet type of Airbus A320 family and Embraer 190 aircraft, which supports its focus on efficiency and operational consistency.

The airline’s core offerings include economy-class travel and a premium business-class product known as Mint, which features lie-flat seats, curated culinary options and elevated service on select transcontinental and international routes.