JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Trading Down 9.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 9.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $7.15 to $4.25. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. JetBlue Airways traded as low as $3.65 and last traded at $3.68. 20,585,367 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 15% from the average session volume of 17,862,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.05.

Several other research firms have also commented on JBLU. Raymond James raised shares of JetBlue Airways from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $5.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of JetBlue Airways from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group dropped their target price on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $3.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on JetBlue Airways from $5.25 to $4.25 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, JetBlue Airways currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.17.

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Insider Buying and Selling at JetBlue Airways

In related news, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 15,000 shares of JetBlue Airways stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total transaction of $112,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $313,747.50. This trade represents a 26.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Nik Mittal bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.14 per share, with a total value of $614,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 116,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $714,960.02. This trade represents a 608.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JBLU. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in JetBlue Airways by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 30,416 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,613 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 2,095 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 23,181 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 2,284 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 130.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,478 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,679 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.59 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $5.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.50.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.21. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 9.31% and a negative net margin of 8.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

About JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways Corporation provides air transportation services. The company operates a fleet of Airbus A321, Airbus A220, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320 Restyled, Airbus A320, Airbus A321 with Mint, Airbus A321neo with Mint, Airbus A321neoLR with Mint, and Embraer E190 aircraft. It also serves 100 destinations across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, Canada, and Europe.