JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $4.00 to $5.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. JetBlue Airways traded as high as $7.65 and last traded at $7.35, with a volume of 9908202 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.39.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on JBLU. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.75 to $6.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $3.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.70.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,376,886 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $277,336,000 after purchasing an additional 317,263 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 3.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,878,115 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $108,875,000 after purchasing an additional 521,767 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 6.5% during the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,256,094 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $98,360,000 after purchasing an additional 805,404 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 16.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,041,025 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $48,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 715.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,630,622 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,622 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

JetBlue Airways Trading Up 14.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of -3.03 and a beta of 1.92. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $5.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.93.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 10.18% and a negative return on equity of 10.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.