Short Interest in JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) Grows By 15.7%

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 51,890,000 shares, a growth of 15.7% from the November 15th total of 44,840,000 shares. Approximately 17.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 18,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on JBLU shares. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised shares of JetBlue Airways from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $3.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of JetBlue Airways in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $7.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, JetBlue Airways presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its stake in JetBlue Airways by 136.1% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 245,657 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 141,605 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 922,925 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,054,000 after acquiring an additional 334,032 shares during the last quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in JetBlue Airways by 800.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,952,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in JetBlue Airways by 13.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,661,742 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,141,000 after purchasing an additional 663,865 shares during the period. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways during the third quarter worth $794,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

JetBlue Airways Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:JBLU opened at $7.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.80 and a beta of 1.92. JetBlue Airways has a 12 month low of $4.49 and a 12 month high of $8.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $6.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.01.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 9.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.39) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that JetBlue Airways will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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.