Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,407,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 267,355 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of JetBlue Airways worth $9,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $9,930,000 after buying an additional 1,430,622 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 16.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,311,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 1,932.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

JetBlue Airways Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JBLU opened at $6.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 1.92. JetBlue Airways Co. has a twelve month low of $4.10 and a twelve month high of $8.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $6.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.10. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 9.17% and a negative return on equity of 8.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.39) EPS. JetBlue Airways’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JBLU. Barclays raised their target price on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $7.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded JetBlue Airways to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, JetBlue Airways presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.43.

JetBlue Airways 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.