Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Air Canada (TSE:AC) to Underperform

Air Canada (TSE:AC) was downgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. They presently have a C$12.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of C$18.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential downside of 16.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AC. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Air Canada from C$29.00 to C$31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. CIBC reduced their price objective on Air Canada from C$28.00 to C$24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Air Canada from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from C$34.00 to C$24.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. ATB Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Air Canada from C$28.00 to C$31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised Air Canada to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$24.80.

Air Canada Price Performance

Shares of TSE:AC traded up C$0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching C$14.35. 2,745,957 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,370,722. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 400.00, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$17.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$19.41. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 2.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.02 and a beta of 2.39. Air Canada has a 12 month low of C$13.62 and a 12 month high of C$26.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Canada news, Director Vagn Sorensen bought 11,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$17.40 per share, with a total value of C$199,057.14. Also, Senior Officer Craig Landry purchased 13,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$16.75 per share, with a total value of C$228,546.55. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Air Canada Company Profile

Air Canada provides domestic, U.S. transborder, and international airline services. The company provides scheduled passenger services under the Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada Rouge brand names in the Canadian market, the Canada-U.S. transborder market, and in the international market to and from Canada, as well as through capacity purchase agreements on other regional carriers.