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

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 155,982 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,813,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Copa by 5.8% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Copa by 90.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 253 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Copa by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 35,156 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,177,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC boosted its position in Copa by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Copa by 2.3% during the third quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,920 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 70.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Copa in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Copa from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $151.00 in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on Copa from $185.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of Copa in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Copa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.22.

Copa Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CPA opened at $114.04 on Friday. Copa Holdings, S.A. has a 12-month low of $82.54 and a 12-month high of $156.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The transportation company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $962.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.22 million. Copa had a return on equity of 25.62% and a net margin of 18.57%.Copa’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Copa Holdings, S.A. will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Copa Increases Dividend

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

Copa 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.