Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILAK) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILAK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,040,000 shares, an increase of 24.3% from the January 31st total of 3,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 928,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Liberty Latin America Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LILAK traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.77. The stock had a trading volume of 170,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 841,247. The company’s 50 day moving average is $6.67 and its 200-day moving average is $7.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Liberty Latin America has a 12-month low of $5.88 and a 12-month high of $10.93. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -2.03 and a beta of 1.02.

Liberty Latin America (NASDAQ:LILAK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.90) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($1.05). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Liberty Latin America had a negative return on equity of 31.59% and a negative net margin of 14.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LILAK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Liberty Latin America from $9.40 to $8.30 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Liberty Latin America from $10.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liberty Latin America news, Director Brendan J. Paddick purchased 31,989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.20 per share, for a total transaction of $198,331.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,419,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,800,943.40. This represents a 2.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 9.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Latin America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Liberty Latin America by 69.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,600,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,044,000 after purchasing an additional 6,379,203 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Liberty Latin America by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,034,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,216 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Liberty Latin America by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,929,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,916,000 after purchasing an additional 869,420 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Latin America by 4,054.1% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 809,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,087,000 after buying an additional 789,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Latin America by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,881,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,928,000 after purchasing an additional 549,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.98% of the company’s stock.

About Liberty Latin America

Liberty Latin America Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed, mobile, and subsea telecommunications services. The company operates through C&W Caribbean, C&W Panama, Liberty Networks, Liberty Puerto Rico, and Liberty Costa Rico segments. It offers communications and entertainment services, including video, broadband internet, fixed-line, telephony, and mobiles services to residential and business customers; and business products and services that include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting, and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions for small and medium enterprises, international companies, and governmental agencies.