Azul (NYSE:AZUL) Shares Gap Down to $6.44

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $6.44, but opened at $6.07. Azul shares last traded at $6.05, with a volume of 315,999 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZUL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Azul in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $9.50 target price (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Azul in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Azul from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.26.

Azul Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.52 and a beta of 1.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.23.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Azul S.A. will post -0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azul

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in Azul by 66.7% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Azul by 19.4% in the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 18,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Azul in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in Azul during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Azul by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 24,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 3,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

About Azul

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled air transportation services in Brazil. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 158 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 177 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 194 aircraft.