Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in JetBlue Airways Corporation $JBLU

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 239,960 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,375,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of JetBlue Airways at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBLU. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in JetBlue Airways by 131.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 90,534 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 51,377 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 185,801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 8,053 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 6.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,789,448 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,085,000 after purchasing an additional 274,892 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the first quarter worth approximately $106,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

JetBlue Airways Trading Up 3.2%

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

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.03. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 45.92% and a negative net margin of 9.32%.The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.21) earnings per share. JetBlue Airways’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that JetBlue Airways Corporation will post -2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at JetBlue Airways

In related news, Director Vivek Sharma sold 32,000 shares of JetBlue Airways stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.41, for a total value of $173,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,941.39. This trade represents a 47.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 77,253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 211,099 shares in the company, valued at $1,215,930.24. This represents a 26.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 111,253 shares of company stock valued at $629,597 in the last quarter. 2.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JBLU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $6.75 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Seaport Research Partners cut JetBlue Airways from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, JetBlue Airways has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.40.

JetBlue Airways Company 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.