Azul (NYSE:AZUL) Shares Gap Down to $6.08

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.08, but opened at $5.91. Azul shares last traded at $5.91, with a volume of 81,804 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $9.50 price target (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Azul in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Azul from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down from $13.00) on shares of Azul in a report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.86.

Azul Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.89 and its 200-day moving average is $8.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -2.39 and a beta of 1.94.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Azul S.A. will post -0.95 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Azul

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Azul by 19.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its holdings in Azul by 16.0% during the first quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 24,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Azul during the third quarter valued at $205,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Azul in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Azul by 310.0% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 31,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 24,054 shares during the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Azul

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.