LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $46.26, but opened at $50.47. LATAM Airlines Group shares last traded at $51.3090, with a volume of 499,881 shares traded.

The transportation company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. LATAM Airlines Group had a return on equity of 136.61% and a net margin of 10.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut LATAM Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised LATAM Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $63.40 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LATAM Airlines Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup raised LATAM Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut LATAM Airlines Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in LATAM Airlines Group by 49.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in LATAM Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new position in LATAM Airlines Group during the second quarter worth $90,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in LATAM Airlines Group by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,386 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in LATAM Airlines Group by 340.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,672 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares in the last quarter.

LATAM Airlines Group Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 3.62.

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.