JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 53,960,000 shares, a decrease of 13.8% from the September 15th total of 62,580,000 shares. Currently, 17.4% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 17,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBLU traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $7.12. 14,898,957 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,322,200. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.84 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.54. JetBlue Airways has a fifty-two week low of $3.42 and a fifty-two week high of $7.65.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.26. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 10.29% and a negative net margin of 10.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that JetBlue Airways will post -0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JBLU. Susquehanna raised their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on JetBlue Airways from $5.75 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $3.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of JetBlue Airways to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, JetBlue Airways presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in JetBlue Airways during the first quarter worth $25,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways in the second quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 169.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

JetBlue Airways Company Profile

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.