Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, a growth of 8.8% from the December 15th total of 1,360,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 337,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Copa by 29.6% in the third quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 626 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Copa in the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Copa by 69,000.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,382 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Copa by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Copa in the third quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Institutional investors own 70.09% of the company’s stock.

Copa Stock Performance

NYSE CPA traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $90.24. 337,349 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,909. Copa has a fifty-two week low of $80.01 and a fifty-two week high of $114.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Copa (NYSE:CPA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The transportation company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $854.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $864.90 million. Copa had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 28.46%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Copa will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Copa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $1.61 dividend. This represents a $6.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Copa’s dividend payout ratio is 42.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CPA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Copa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Copa from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Copa currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.29.

Copa Company Profile

Copa Holdings, SA, through its subsidiaries, provides airline passenger and cargo services. The company offers approximately 375 daily scheduled flights to 82 destinations in 32 countries in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean from its Panama City hub. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 106 aircraft comprising 76 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft, 29 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, and one Boeing 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter.