Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) Short Interest Up 53.8% in February

Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, an increase of 53.8% from the January 31st total of 1,060,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. US Bancorp DE acquired a new position in shares of Despegar.com in the 3rd quarter valued at $332,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Despegar.com during the 3rd quarter valued at about $591,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Despegar.com in the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Despegar.com by 76.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 256,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 111,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Despegar.com in the third quarter valued at approximately $878,000. 67.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DESP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Despegar.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Despegar.com from $17.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Despegar.com presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.20.

Despegar.com Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DESP traded down $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.23. 2,198,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,273,226. Despegar.com has a 12-month low of $8.64 and a 12-month high of $19.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.02.

About Despegar.com

Despegar.com, Corp., an online travel company, provides a range of travel and travel-related products to leisure and corporate travelers through its websites and mobile applications in Latin America and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Travel Business and Financial Services Business.