Short Interest in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Increases By 28.9%

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,626,815 shares, a growth of 28.9% from the February 26th total of 2,038,267 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,195,126 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE VLRS opened at $6.93 on Monday. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion has a fifty-two week low of $3.49 and a fifty-two week high of $10.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $807.67 million, a P/E ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.90.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS) last released its earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $882.00 million during the quarter. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion had a negative net margin of 3.42% and a negative return on equity of 38.03%. On average, analysts predict that Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,053,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $44,873,000 after purchasing an additional 128,088 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 48.9% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,720,522 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,353,000 after buying an additional 565,250 shares during the last quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 1,009,652 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,916,000 after buying an additional 37,457 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 126.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 990,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,796,000 after buying an additional 553,251 shares during the period. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP grew its position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 757,761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,729,000 after buying an additional 3,277 shares during the period. 53.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VLRS shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $9.50 to $11.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.74.

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion Company Profile

Controladora Vuela Compañia de Aviacion, SAB de CV (NYSE: VLRS) is a Mexico-based airline holding company whose primary business is the operation of low-cost scheduled air transportation services. Through its principal operating subsidiary, Volaris, the company provides passenger and cargo flights on domestic and international routes. Its business model emphasizes unbundled ancillary services and point-to-point operations designed to offer competitive fares across its network.

Volaris serves more than 120 routes linking major metropolitan areas and secondary cities in Mexico, the United States and Central America.