Short Interest in Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) Expands By 8.8%

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CPA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Copa from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Copa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Copa currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.29.

Copa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CPA opened at $90.25 on Tuesday. Copa has a fifty-two week low of $80.01 and a fifty-two week high of $114.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Copa (NYSE:CPA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $864.90 million. Copa had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 28.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.39 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Copa will post 14.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Copa Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Copa

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Copa by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 626 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Copa in the 3rd quarter valued at $82,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Copa by 90.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Copa in the 3rd quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Copa by 29.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,690 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.09% of the company’s stock.

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.