Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Stock Price

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $7.00 to $4.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 6.76% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on JBLU. Raymond James upgraded JetBlue Airways from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $5.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on JetBlue Airways from $6.85 to $7.60 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut JetBlue Airways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, JetBlue Airways has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.45.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JBLU opened at $4.29 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.83 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.53. JetBlue Airways has a 52-week low of $3.47 and a 52-week high of $8.31.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.21. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 9.31% and a negative net margin of 8.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways will post -0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at JetBlue Airways

In related news, Director Nik Mittal bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.14 per share, for a total transaction of $614,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 116,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $714,960.02. This represents a 608.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total value of $112,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 41,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $313,747.50. This trade represents a 26.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JBLU. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 130.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,478 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 7,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 85.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,353 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 3,857 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.