Copa (NYSE:CPA) Upgraded to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Copa from "neutral" to Buy and set a $138 price target, implying about a 15.9% upside from the prior close.
• Analysts overall remain positive — one Strong Buy, ten Buy and one Hold — with a consensus target of $165, though several firms have trimmed their price targets recently.
• Copa slightly beat quarterly estimates (EPS $4.46 vs. $4.44; revenue $962.9M vs. $959.2M) and shows strong profitability metrics (ROE 25.62%, net margin 18.57%) and a low PE of 7.32.

Copa (NYSE:CPA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $138.00 target price on the transportation company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.93% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Copa from $212.00 to $171.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Copa from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Copa in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Copa from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Copa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $165.00.

Copa Stock Down 0.1%

Copa stock opened at $119.04 on Monday. 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 has a 1-year low of $84.15 and a 1-year high of $156.41. The company has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $129.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.92.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Copa

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Copa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,603,671 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $555,249,000 after acquiring an additional 30,101 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Copa by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,647,779 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $198,739,000 after acquiring an additional 44,834 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Copa by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,344,720 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $162,185,000 after acquiring an additional 31,699 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Copa by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 654,830 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $78,979,000 after acquiring an additional 12,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Copa by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 654,255 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $78,910,000 after acquiring an additional 22,126 shares during the last quarter. 70.09% of the stock is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.