UPDATE: Bank of America Downgrades Republic Airways to Underperform; Risks Exceed Rewards

Bank of America downgraded Republic Airways (NASDAQ: RJET) from Neutral to Underperform and maintained an $8.00 price objective.

Bank of America noted, "RJET share price has more than doubled in the past six months and is currently more than 20% above our P.O. We are downgrading our rating to Underperform from Neutral as earnings momentum appears to be stalling, cost pressures are building, and the recently announced contract with American may be at risk, in our view. With fuel prices running above our 1Q projection, we are revising our 1Q13 profit to $0.04 from $0.11 and our full year estimate to $1.45 from $1.50."

Republic Airways closed at $9.96 on Friday.

(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.