Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,580,000 shares, a drop of 18.6% from the February 28th total of 1,940,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 312,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Currently, 5.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Copa from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Copa in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Copa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Copa has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $153.29.

Institutional Trading of Copa

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Copa during the third quarter valued at $82,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Copa by 147.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Copa during the 3rd quarter valued at $240,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Copa in the fourth quarter worth $225,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Copa by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,685 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 70.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Copa Price Performance

Shares of CPA stock traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.09. 325,463 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 297,712. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.59. Copa has a twelve month low of $80.01 and a twelve month high of $114.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Copa (NYSE:CPA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.84 by $0.15. Copa had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 26.70%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Copa will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Copa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $1.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $6.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.15%. Copa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.23%.

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.