Short Interest in Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) Declines By 7.5%

Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 604,700 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the May 31st total of 654,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 255,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Copa

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Copa by 3.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,068,558 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $423,781,000 after purchasing an additional 144,806 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Copa by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,958,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $263,638,000 after buying an additional 68,592 shares in the last quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Copa by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,661,539 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $282,948,000 after buying an additional 70,300 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Copa by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 687,771 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $73,119,000 after buying an additional 38,326 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of Copa by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 444,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,263,000 after acquiring an additional 25,811 shares during the period. 70.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Copa in a report on Friday, May 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Copa from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Copa from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Copa from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Copa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.67.

Copa Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CPA traded down $0.83 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 229,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 274,293. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 6.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.47. Copa has a 12 month low of $78.12 and a 12 month high of $121.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.96.

Copa (NYSE:CPA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 15th. The transportation company reported $4.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $893.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.73 million. Copa had a return on equity of 36.59% and a net margin of 16.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.99 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Copa will post 16.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Copa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a $1.61 dividend. This represents a $6.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Copa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Copa Company Profile

Copa Holdings, SA, through its subsidiaries, provides airline passenger and cargo services. The company offers approximately 327 daily scheduled flights to 78 destinations in 32 countries in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean from its Panama City hub. As of December 31, 2022, it operated a fleet of 97 aircraft comprising 67 Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft, 9 Boeing 737-700 Next Generation aircraft, 1 Boeing 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter, and 20 737-MAX aircraft.