Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on Azul (NYSE:AZUL)

Investment analysts at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Azul (NYSE:AZUL) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $7.40 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 24.16% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Azul in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $9.50 target price (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Azul in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Azul from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.12.

Azul Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZUL opened at $5.96 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 1.94. Azul has a 1 year low of $5.16 and a 1 year high of $13.86.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Azul will post -0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azul

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Azul by 10.4% during the first quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 874,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,797,000 after buying an additional 82,077 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Azul in the third quarter valued at about $4,999,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Azul in the third quarter valued at about $4,712,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Azul by 151.3% in the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 146,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 88,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Azul by 4.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares during the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.