LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,018,982 shares, a drop of 37.0% from the September 15th total of 3,204,337 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 648,359 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

LATAM Airlines Group Price Performance

Shares of LATAM Airlines Group stock traded down $0.96 on Friday, reaching $47.54. The company had a trading volume of 685,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,323. The firm has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 3.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.94. LATAM Airlines Group has a 1 year low of $43.00 and a 1 year high of $70.42.

LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. LATAM Airlines Group had a return on equity of 101.21% and a net margin of 9.69%. As a group, analysts anticipate that LATAM Airlines Group will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LTM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of LATAM Airlines Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of LATAM Airlines Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of LATAM Airlines Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, LATAM Airlines Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LATAM Airlines Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,457,525 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $122,606,000 after purchasing an additional 651,218 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in LATAM Airlines Group by 184.9% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,267,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,650,000 after purchasing an additional 822,400 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its position in LATAM Airlines Group by 168.5% in the 1st quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 881,976 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,605,000 after purchasing an additional 553,513 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc. raised its position in LATAM Airlines Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 629,861 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,424,000 after purchasing an additional 9,750 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in LATAM Airlines Group by 641.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 346,402 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,126,000 after purchasing an additional 299,710 shares during the period.

LATAM Airlines Group Company Profile

LATAM Airlines Group SA is a Chile-based airline holding company and one of the largest air transportation groups in Latin America. Through its LATAM Airlines affiliates, the group provides scheduled passenger and cargo air services to domestic and international destinations.

The company serves markets across South America, including Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, as well as destinations in North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Oceania. Its operations include domestic routes within several Latin American countries, international passenger services, and air freight transportation.

LATAM Airlines Group was created in 2012 through the merger of Chile’s LAN Airlines and Brazil’s TAM Airlines.