Azul (NYSE:AZUL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $2.70, but opened at $2.78. Azul shares last traded at $2.75, with a volume of 112,246 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AZUL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Azul from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $6.70 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Azul from $10.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Azul from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Azul from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Azul to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.59.

Azul Stock Up 4.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.29 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $2.97 and a 200 day moving average of $4.24.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.63). The business had revenue of $800.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $791.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.81) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Azul S.A. will post -1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Azul

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AZUL. Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Azul by 106.3% during the 2nd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,454,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295,000 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Azul by 2,466.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 598,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,395,000 after acquiring an additional 575,344 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda increased its position in shares of Azul by 13,831.7% in the 2nd quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 292,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 290,465 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Azul by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,354,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,101,000 after purchasing an additional 100,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Azul during the third quarter worth about $306,000. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Azul Company Profile

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in Brazil and internationally. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 160 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 183 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 189 aircraft.