LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Finviz reports. The brokerage presently has a $60.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 20.79% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of LATAM Airlines Group from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $64.10 price target on LATAM Airlines Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LATAM Airlines Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup raised LATAM Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded LATAM Airlines Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LATAM Airlines Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.28.

LATAM Airlines Group Stock Performance

Shares of LTM stock opened at $49.67 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 3.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.47. LATAM Airlines Group has a twelve month low of $26.36 and a twelve month high of $70.42.

LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.34. LATAM Airlines Group had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 136.61%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. On average, analysts forecast that LATAM Airlines Group will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of LATAM Airlines Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in LATAM Airlines Group during the first quarter worth about $3,061,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in LATAM Airlines Group by 133.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 40,258 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 23,044 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in LATAM Airlines Group by 113.8% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 3,194 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 298,026 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,112,000 after buying an additional 11,929 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in LATAM Airlines Group by 223.7% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 41,790 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 28,881 shares during the last quarter.

LATAM Airlines Group Company Profile

LATAM Airlines Group SA is a Chilean-based airline holding company formed in 2012 through the merger of LAN Airlines of Chile and TAM Linhas Aéreas of Brazil. The Group offers passenger and cargo air transportation services across South America and beyond, operating under a multi‐brand strategy that encompasses several nationally recognized carriers. Headquartered in Santiago, Chile, LATAM is structured to serve diverse market segments with full-service, premium and low‐cost offerings.

The core business activities of LATAM Airlines Group include scheduled domestic and international passenger flights, air cargo services and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities through its technical divisions.