Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Azul (NYSE:AZUL)

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 6,075 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 125% compared to the average volume of 2,695 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azul

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its stake in Azul by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 27,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 2,380 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Azul by 35.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Azul by 19.4% in the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 18,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Azul during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Azul during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. 0.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azul Stock Performance

AZUL stock remained flat at $3.13 on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 1,827,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,012,115. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $3.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.58. Azul has a 1 year low of $2.02 and a 1 year high of $11.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 1.98.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.63). The company had revenue of $800.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $791.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.81) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Azul will post -1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Azul from $10.00 to $4.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Azul from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Azul from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Azul from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $2.70 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Azul from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $6.70 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.59.

Azul Company Profile

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in Brazil and internationally. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 160 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 183 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 189 aircraft.