JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $7.69 and last traded at $7.69, with a volume of 2356528 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on JBLU. Bank of America raised JetBlue Airways from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.75 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised JetBlue Airways to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.80.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.92. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.26 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.26. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 10.29% and a negative net margin of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. JetBlue Airways’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of JBLU. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 715.3% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,630,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430,622 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,041,025 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,217 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in JetBlue Airways by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,256,094 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $98,360,000 after purchasing an additional 805,404 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in JetBlue Airways by 1,932.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 588,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,586,000 after purchasing an additional 559,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 3.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,878,115 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $108,875,000 after buying an additional 521,767 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About JetBlue Airways

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.