Copa (NYSE:CPA) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Copa (NYSE:CPA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Copa in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Copa in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Itau BBA Securities started coverage on shares of Copa in a report on Sunday, November 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Copa from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $151.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Copa from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.13.

Copa Price Performance

Copa stock opened at $114.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $135.92 and its 200 day moving average is $126.39. Copa has a one year low of $82.54 and a one year high of $156.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Copa (NYSE:CPA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The transportation company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by ($0.26). Copa had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 25.62%. The firm had revenue of $962.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Copa will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Copa Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a boost from Copa’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.61. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Copa’s payout ratio is currently 42.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Copa

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Copa by 1,361,326.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 258,671 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,198,000 after purchasing an additional 258,652 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Copa by 428.4% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 258,251 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,148,000 after buying an additional 209,381 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Copa in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,813,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in Copa by 35.2% in the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 550,805 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,447,000 after buying an additional 143,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in Copa by 153.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 229,076 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,219,000 after buying an additional 138,700 shares during the period. 70.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Copa

Copa Holdings, SA (NYSE:CPA) is a Panama‐based aviation holding company that provides passenger and cargo air transportation across the Americas and the Caribbean. Through its principal subsidiary, Copa Airlines, the company operates a modern fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, offering scheduled flights that connect passengers through its Tocumen International Airport hub in Panama City. The company also offers dedicated cargo services under the Copa Cargo brand, leveraging belly hold capacity on its passenger flights to transport freight throughout its network.

The roots of Copa Holdings trace back to 1947, when Compañía Panameña de Aviación began operations as the flag carrier of Panama.