Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Acquires New Stake in JetBlue Airways Corporation $JBLU

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 273,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,738,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned about 0.07% of JetBlue Airways as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 326,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 13,232 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 23,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 2,599 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 10.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in JetBlue Airways by 8.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 39,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 3,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

JetBlue Airways Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:JBLU opened at $4.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.64 and a 200 day moving average of $5.25. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of -2.05 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04. JetBlue Airways Corporation has a 12-month low of $3.87 and a 12-month high of $6.62.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.03. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 9.32% and a negative return on equity of 45.92%. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.21) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that JetBlue Airways Corporation will post -2.24 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on JBLU. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $6.75 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on JetBlue Airways from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 77,253 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.76, for a total value of $444,977.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 211,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,215,930.24. This represents a 26.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vivek Sharma sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.41, for a total transaction of $173,120.00. Following the sale, the director owned 35,479 shares in the company, valued at $191,941.39. The trade was a 47.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 111,253 shares of company stock valued at $629,597. Company insiders own 2.41% of the company’s stock.

JetBlue Airways Profile

JetBlue Airways Corporation is a low-cost scheduled passenger airline headquartered in Long Island City, New York. Since commencing service in 2000, the carrier has built a reputation for combining competitive fares with enhanced onboard amenities, including free in-flight entertainment, complimentary snacks and beverages, and onboard Wi-Fi. JetBlue operates a single fleet type of Airbus A320 family and Embraer 190 aircraft, which supports its focus on efficiency and operational consistency.

The airline’s core offerings include economy-class travel and a premium business-class product known as Mint, which features lie-flat seats, curated culinary options and elevated service on select transcontinental and international routes.