Stockpickr Snapshot: JetBlue

In a filing on Wednesday, super investor George Soros reported that he had increased his stake in JetBlue Airways(JBLU Quote - Cramer on JBLU - Stock Picks) to 11.5% of the company, up from 9.5%. He now owns 20.5 million shares, up from the 16.9 million shares reported by the company on April 2. Soros has been intimate with the company's prospects since its start, having provided some of the start-up funding for its 2001 launch.

JetBlue shares are substantially off their high of $17.02 set in January, closing Wednesday at $11.53. Perhaps that prompted Soros to add to his position, as well as the fact that the company expects to swing to a profit this year, after a slight loss in 2006. Analysts expect earnings per share to be 36 cents in 2007 and 70 cents in 2008, giving it a forward P/E of just under 17. The company has recently warned that profits will be lower in 2007 than it initially thought due to the winter storms that caused many flight delays and cancellations.

Other significant holders of JetBlue include LaGrange Capital, the fund managed by Street Insight writer, Grange Johnson, and recent Barron's profilee Richard Arvedlund, who manages Cypress Capital. Arvedlund said in Barron's that JetBlue is a play on "a decline in oil prices and rates."

In his last quarterly filing, Soros also revealed that, as of Dec. 31, he had raised stakes in several other companies.

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