Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) Short Interest Up 171.8% in July

Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,490,000 shares, an increase of 171.8% from the June 30th total of 2,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Currently, 9.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on DESP shares. B. Riley boosted their target price on Despegar.com from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Despegar.com from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Despegar.com from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday.

Despegar.com Stock Performance

DESP traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.71. 722,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 877,550. Despegar.com has a one year low of $6.09 and a one year high of $15.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.66.

Despegar.com (NYSE:DESP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $173.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.23 million. Despegar.com had a negative return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 5.41%. Equities analysts forecast that Despegar.com will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Despegar.com

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DESP. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Despegar.com by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,933,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,290,000 after acquiring an additional 125,288 shares during the last quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Despegar.com by 236.2% during the 1st quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 1,694,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,463 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Despegar.com during the 4th quarter worth $12,954,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Despegar.com in the 2nd quarter worth about $15,680,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Despegar.com during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,622,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.93% of the company’s stock.

Despegar.com Company Profile

Despegar.com, Corp., an online travel company, provides a range of travel and travel-related products to leisure and corporate travelers through its websites and mobile applications in Latin America and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Travel Business and Financial Services Business.