Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $159.4286.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CPA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Copa in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $164.00 price target on Copa and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Copa from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Copa from $159.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Copa from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 8th.

Copa Price Performance

Copa stock opened at $124.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.45. Copa has a 1 year low of $82.54 and a 1 year high of $130.00.

Copa (NYSE:CPA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The transportation company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $913.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $917.51 million. Copa had a net margin of 18.83% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Copa will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Copa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $1.61 per share. This represents a $6.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Copa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.05%.

Institutional Trading of Copa

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CPA. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new position in shares of Copa in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Copa by 408.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 249 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Copa by 90.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 253 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Copa by 271.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 260 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Copa in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.09% of the company’s stock.

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.