JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Is JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) a good investment?

In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of gauges shareholders can use to track Mr. Market. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can beat the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is another way to look at the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of stimuli for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, we’re going to discuss the newest info about JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU).

How have hedgies been trading JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 24% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich’s Scopia Capital had the most valuable position in JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU), worth close to $58.9 million, comprising 1.6% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $34.8 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Claes Fornell’s CSat Investment Advisory and David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management.

Now, particular hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Whitebox Advisors, managed by Andy Redleaf, initiated the largest position in JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU). Whitebox Advisors had 63.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich’s Scopia Capital also made a $58.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new JBLU investors: Michael Johnston’s Steelhead Partners, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, and Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU). These stocks are Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA), Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK), SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW), Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (ADR) (NYSE:GOL), and Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT). This group of stocks belong to the regional airlines industry and their market caps are closest to JBLU’s market cap.

Using the results explained by the previously mentioned strategies, regular investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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