Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) Short Interest Up 28.0% in March

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a growth of 28.0% from the March 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 815,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VLRS traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $4.64. The stock had a trading volume of 242,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,820. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación has a 52-week low of $4.32 and a 52-week high of $9.19. The firm has a market cap of $540.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 2.17. The business's fifty day moving average is $5.66 and its 200 day moving average is $7.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación (NYSE:VLRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $835.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $709.48 million. Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 71.50%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,396 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación by 9.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,092 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VLRS. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities started coverage on Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.43.

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.