Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Buys New Position in Copa Holdings, S.A. $CPA

Key Points

• Deprince Race & Zollo opened a new position in Copa Holdings by buying 13,787 shares (~$1.66M) in Q4, and institutional investors now own about 70.09% of the company amid broader hedge fund buying.
• Copa beat quarterly expectations with $4.46 EPS (vs. $4.44 est.) and revenue of $962.9M (vs. $959.2M), with revenue up 9.6% YoY, a 25.6% ROE and an 18.6% net margin.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.71 (annualized $6.84), yielding ~5.8% with a payout ratio of ~42%, while analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating and an average target of $165.00.

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 13,787 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $1,663,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Copa by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,573,570 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $543,432,000 after purchasing an additional 40,285 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Copa by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,021 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $156,014,000 after purchasing an additional 42,921 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Copa by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 642,777 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $76,375,000 after purchasing an additional 22,177 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Copa by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 550,805 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $65,447,000 after purchasing an additional 143,497 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Copa by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 547,618 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $65,068,000 after purchasing an additional 136,719 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.09% of the company's stock.

Copa Trading Down 0.5%

Copa stock opened at $118.55 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $128.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.01. Copa Holdings, S.A. has a 12 month low of $86.37 and a 12 month high of $156.41.

Copa (NYSE:CPA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The transportation company reported $4.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $962.89 million during 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%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Copa Holdings, S.A. will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Copa Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. 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 payout ratio is currently 42.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Copa from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on Copa from $185.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Copa in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Copa in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Copa from $212.00 to $171.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $165.00.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CPA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA - Free Report).

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.