JetBlue Airways Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:JBLU)

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 51,474 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 54% compared to the typical volume of 33,318 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other JetBlue Airways news, CFO Ursula Hurley sold 77,253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.76, for a total value of $444,977.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 211,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,215,930.24. This trade represents a 26.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,253 shares of company stock valued at $474,477. 2.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBLU. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its position in JetBlue Airways by 17.2% in the first quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 5,542,536 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,498,000 after purchasing an additional 813,782 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways in the 2nd quarter valued at $20,022,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,549,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 2nd quarter worth $11,336,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 2nd quarter worth $10,748,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

JetBlue Airways stock opened at $3.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.02. JetBlue Airways has a 1-year low of $2.98 and a 1-year high of $6.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.32 and a beta of 1.77.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 9.32% and a negative return on equity of 45.92%. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.21) EPS. On average, analysts expect that JetBlue Airways will post -2.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JBLU shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of JetBlue Airways from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners cut shares of JetBlue Airways from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.02.

About JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ:JBLU) is a passenger airline that provides scheduled air transportation in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and select destinations in Canada and Europe. The company serves leisure and business travelers through a network centered on major U.S. airports, including New York, Boston, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

JetBlue offers multiple travel products, including its core economy service and premium Mint cabins on select routes. Its onboard offerings have included complimentary snacks and beverages, seatback entertainment, Wi-Fi and additional-legroom seating options marketed as Even More Space.