Copa (NYSE:CPA) Price Target Cut to $185.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Copa (NYSE:CPA) had its target price trimmed by UBS Group from $190.00 to $185.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CPA. Itau BBA Securities initiated coverage on shares of Copa in a research report on Sunday, November 30th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Copa in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Copa in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Copa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Copa from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Copa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.30.

Copa Price Performance

NYSE CPA opened at $111.02 on Friday. Copa has a one year low of $82.54 and a one year high of $156.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $132.96 and a 200 day moving average of $125.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.82, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.89.

Copa (NYSE:CPA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The transportation company reported $4.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.02. Copa had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 25.62%. The business had revenue of $962.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Copa will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Copa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Copa’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.61. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Copa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CPA. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Copa by 56.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 340,554 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,488,000 after purchasing an additional 122,413 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Copa by 152.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Copa by 138.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,675 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after purchasing an additional 11,427 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Copa during the second quarter valued at $845,000. Finally, Everstar Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Copa by 6.1% during the second quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.09% of the company’s stock.

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.