Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys New Stake in Copa Holdings, S.A. $CPA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 155,982 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,813,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.38% of Copa as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Copa by 0.9% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,573,570 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $543,432,000 after buying an additional 40,285 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Copa by 3.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,021 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $156,014,000 after acquiring an additional 42,921 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Copa by 3.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 642,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,375,000 after acquiring an additional 22,177 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its position in Copa by 35.2% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 550,805 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,447,000 after acquiring an additional 143,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Copa by 33.3% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 547,618 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,068,000 after acquiring an additional 136,719 shares during the period. 70.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Copa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Copa from $212.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Copa in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Copa from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Copa from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $151.00 in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.22.

Copa Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of CPA opened at $114.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.89. Copa Holdings, S.A. has a 12 month low of $82.54 and a 12 month high of $156.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $133.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Copa (NYSE:CPA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The transportation company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.44 by ($0.26). Copa had a return on equity of 25.62% and a net margin of 18.57%.The business had revenue of $962.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Copa Holdings, S.A. will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Copa Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Copa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.04%.

Copa Company Profile

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.